Selling at PSX, KSE-100 down nearly 1,200 points

After days of buying momentum, selling pressure was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding nearly 1,200 points on Tuesday.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index witnessed a predominantly bearish trend, with selling pressure emerging immediately after the opening bell.

The index dropped sharply from the previous close of 187,454.69 to an intraday low of 186,189.21 within the first hour of trading, reflecting cautious investor sentiment.

The market staged a partial recovery during the late morning session, briefly trimming losses as the index climbed above the 187,300 level around midday.

At close, the KSE-100 settled at 186,255.55, down 1,199.14 points, or 0.64%.

“Investor sentiment remained cautious amid weakness in regional equity markets, prompting participants to lock in recent gains after the KSE-100’s strong upward run over the past several sessions. Despite today’s decline, the broader market outlook remains supported by improving macroeconomic fundamentals and sustained institutional interest,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

On the index contribution front, heavyweight stocks FFC, PPL, UBL, OGDC, and LUCK were the major drags on the benchmark index, collectively shaving approximately 649 points off the day’s performance, Topline said.

On Monday, PSX extended its record-setting rally as strong institutional buying, supported by softer international crude oil prices and improving investor confidence, kept bulls firmly in control throughout the trading session. The KSE-100 Index settled at a fresh all-time closing high of 187,454.69 points, gaining 2,082.49 points or 1.12%.

Internationally, Asian stocks drifted lower on Tuesday, even after South Korea’s Samsung Electronics forecast an eye-popping 19-fold jump in ​second-quarter profit, while the Japanese yen remained pinned near 40-year lows amid intervention speculation.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, estimated ‌April-June operating profit at 89.4 trillion won ($58.44 billion), a third straight quarter of record operating profit.

South Korean shares slumped 4.1%, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.73%. Japan’s Nikkei shed 1.08%.

The sharp rally in AI-related shares has likely been driven by concerns over the economy and inflation, with worries about the outlook — ​including worsening tensions involving Iran — prompting investors to seek refuge in the sector, said Toru Suehiro, chief economist at Daiwa Securities.

All three major U.S. stock ​indexes ended higher on Wall Street overnight, buoyed by hopes that artificial intelligence will fuel a strong second-quarter earnings season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ​ended the day up 0.29%, while the S&P 500 jumped 0.72% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.12%.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee posted marginal gain against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the local currency settled at 278.10, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index rose to 984.85 million from 888.40 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares decreased to Rs45.70 billion from Rs49.98 billion in the previous session.

TPL REIT Fund I was the volume leader with 75.73 million shares, followed by TPL Properties with 72.49 million shares, and B.O. Punjab with 60.71 million shares.

Shares of 498 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 192 registered an increase, 271 recorded a fall, and 35 remained unchanged.