PSX: KSE-100 Index settles over 2,500 points lower

Negative sentiment was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday amid uncertainty on both the international and local fronts, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing with a loss of over 2,500 points.

The KSE-100 index witnessed a volatile trading session, initially recovering to an intra-day high of 180,602.44 points in the opening hours before succumbing to heavy selling pressure.

The selling intensified in the afternoon after the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) ordered former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s transfer to Shifa International Hospital for medical examination.

Following the development, the index dropped to an intra-day low of 177,866.04 points. At close, the benchmark index settled at 177,955.51 points, down 2,546.94 points or 1.41%.

As per Aaj News, Imran Khan, under the court’s directives, will be accompanied during his treatment by physician Dr Faisal Sultan and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan.

“Investor sentiment remained weak amid political uncertainty and rising international oil prices, prompting investors to reduce exposure across major sectors,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

On the negative side, FFC, MEBL, ENGROH, UBL, and OGDC emerged as the largest drags on the benchmark, collectively eroding approximately 928 points from the KSE-100 Index, it added.

On Monday, PSX rebounded as a strong rally in refinery stocks, triggered by news of a multi-billion refinery modernisation and expansion programme, lifted the market, although selective profit-taking in other heavyweight stocks limited the overall gain. The KSE-100 Index gained 397.83 points, or 0.22%, to close at 180,502.45 points.

Internationally, oil prices crept higher, and bond yields rose, blunting paltry gains for stocks at the start of Asian trading on Tuesday as a ​US-Iran truce expired and Tehran said it would shift to a “fully offensive” military posture.

MSCI’s ‌broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.8%, buoyed by South Korea’s KOSPI rising more than 3% as the Seoul market returned after a holiday.

The Nikkei 225 fell 0.3%, while ​S&P 500 e-mini futures were flat.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury bond ​was up 0.8 basis points at 4.728%. Its 30-year counterpart traded up ⁠0.6 basis points at 5.3146%, its highest in more than two decades.

Overnight on Wall ‌Street, ⁠the S&P 500 slipped 0.5% while the Nasdaq Composite edged 0.3% lower as soft U.S. economic data, including an unexpected drop in retail sales, prompted markets to scale back bets on an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate move.

Brent ⁠crude ​futures edged up 0.2% to $91.06 a barrel as trading ​resumed in Asia.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee extended its marginal gains against the US dollar on Tuesday. The local unit closed the day at 277.61, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 1,038.64 million from 1,047.68 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares rose to Rs50.74 billion from Rs48.32 billion in the previous session.

Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with 231.46 million shares, followed by Hascol Petrol with 50.31 million shares, and Sui South Gas with 45.47 million shares.

Shares of 494 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 104 registered an increase, 368 recorded a fall, and 22 remained unchanged.