KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed marginally lower on Thursday as late-session position squaring ahead of the weekend erased early gains, keeping the benchmark KSE-100 Index in a range-bound trading pattern.
The KSE-100 Index declined by 206.60 points, or 0.11%, to close at 180,104.61 points against 180,311.22 points in the previous session. The index opened on a positive note and climbed to an intraday high of 181,433.86 points before profit-taking pushed it down to a low of 180,035.92 points.
Business Recorder indices also closed mixed. The BRIndex100 fell 15.76 points, or 0.08%, to 19,856.60 points on turnover of 776.53 million shares. The BRIndex30, however, gained 56.35 points, or 0.08%, to 72,452.79 points on volume of 546.57 million shares.
Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd, said the market witnessed a negative session as early gains were erased in the latter half amid position squaring ahead of the weekend.
He said FFC, SRVI, HBL, PPL and PSEL collectively contributed 264 points to the benchmark, while ENGROH, SYS, MEBL, HMB and POL collectively dragged the index down by 285 points.
Trading activity increased on the Ready Market, with total turnover rising to 891.33 million shares from 744.24 million shares in the previous session.
Traded value increased to Rs36.69 billion from Rs32.19 billion. Despite the higher trading activity, Ready Market capitalization declined by Rs47.38 billion to Rs20.13 trillion from Rs20.18 trillion.
Market breadth remained negative. Of 495 companies active on the Ready Market, 197 advanced, 269 declined and 29 remained unchanged.
Cnergyico PK remained the most-traded stock on the Ready Market, with 247.07 million shares changing hands closing at Rs13.68, up from Rs13.11. Beco Steel Ltd followed with 103.80 million shares, closing at Rs5.11. Pak Refinery traded 40.24 million shares and closed at Rs76.73 against Rs70.80, while D.S. Ind. Ltd recorded 39.09 million shares and closed at Rs13.56 compared with Rs15.07.
Service Industries Limited was the leading price gainer, rising Rs81.79 to Rs2,176.50 per share, followed by Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited, which gained Rs43.24 to Rs9,318.17.
On the losing side, PIA Holding Company LimitedB declined Rs366.46 to Rs17,083.54, while Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited fell Rs226.13 to Rs25,160.87 per share.
Among sectoral indices, the BR Commercial Banks Index declined 147.73 points, or 0.23%, to 63,981.07 points, while the BR Oil and Gas Index fell 34.42 points, or 0.23%, to 15,157.63 points.
The BR Power Generation and Distribution Index declined 27.75 points, or 0.10%, to 27,389.57 points, while the BR Tech. & Comm. Index lost 26.92 points, or 0.73%, to 3,677.55 points.
In contrast, the BR Cement Index gained 10.20 points, or 0.08%, to 12,763.62 points, while the BR Automobile Assembler Index edged up 2.14 points, or 0.01%, to 24,118.82 points.
Analysts say the market may remain range-bound in the near term as investors consolidate recent gains and await fresh catalysts. Strong fiscal consolidation and corporate earnings remain supportive, while profit-taking and global and geopolitical developments could keep near-term sentiment cautious.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
Comments