Selling continues at bourse, KSE-100 sheds nearly 1,500 points

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a bearish trading session mirroring a decline in international markets led by geopolitical volatility. The benchmark KSE-100 Index shed nearly 1,500 points on Wednesday.

The market opened on a relatively positive note, with the index climbing to an intra-day high of 169,687.29 points during early trading hours.

However, selling pressure soon emerged, triggering broad-based decline that intensified around late morning, when the index sharply dropped below the 168,000 level, hitting an intra-day low of 167,329.34.

Although the benchmark attempted a modest recovery near mid-day, the rebound remained short-lived as investors continued to book profits.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 167,451.13, down by 1,465.09 points or 0.87%.

“The benchmark index remained under pressure throughout a volatile and range-bound trading session, as cautious investor sentiment prevailed amid the absence of tangible progress in ongoing negotiations and lingering uncertainty surrounding developments between the United States and Iran,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report. “Persistently elevated oil prices further dampened market confidence.”

Index-heavy stocks, including UBL, HBL, BAHL, LUCK, and HUBC, remained under selling pressure, collectively dragging the index lower by 734 points, Topline said.

In a key development, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) received about $1.3 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), the central bank said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, PSX witnessed another volatile and largely lacklustre trading session with equities coming under renewed selling pressure as investors remained wary of escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and uncertainty over the future of US-Iran negotiations, forcing the benchmark index to settle in the red. The KSE-100 closed at 168,916.22 points, posting a decline of 1,590.09 points or 0.93%.

Internationally, stocks started the Asian session on the ​back foot on Wednesday, with talks between Washington and Tehran at a standstill as hotter-than-expected US inflation underscored the growing economic ‌toll of the Middle East conflict.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.6%, down for a second day as Korean shares fell as much as 3.2% before rebounding. The Korean market has been on a tear in recent weeks, breaching records regularly on an AI-led rally that some traders say was ripe ​for a pullback.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.2%, while S&P 500 e-mini futures nudged 0.1% lower.

The conflict in the Middle East remained in a stalemate, as US President Donald Trump said on ​Tuesday he does not think he will need China’s help to end the war with Iran, ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi ​Jinping later this week.

Brent crude slipped 0.6% ​to $107.13. Oil prices have held at or above $100 a barrel since late February, when US and Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s effective closure of ‌the Strait ⁠of Hormuz rattled supply.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee continued to gain against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. At close, the local currency settled at 278.65, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 684.90 million from 1,017.42 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares declined to Rs21.74 billion from Rs32.03 billion in the previous session.

Agha Steel Ind was the volume leader with 58.65 million shares, followed by Treet Battery Ltd with 49.81 million shares, and Bunnys Limited with 38.70 million shares.

Shares of 483 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 149 registered an increase, 298 recorded a fall, and 36 remained unchanged.