PSX: KSE-100 ends flat amid late selling

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile trading session on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index initially gaining momentum before coming under sustained selling pressure in the second half as it eventually settled on a flat note.

The index opened on a positive note and climbed to an intraday high of 178,650.01, with buying interest pushing it above the 178,500 level during the morning session. However, the upward momentum failed to sustain, and the benchmark began moving sideways before gradually losing ground around midday.

Selling pressure intensified during the afternoon, with the index falling steadily from the 178,000-plus level. A sharp decline in the final hour of trading dragged the KSE-100 to its intraday low of 177,196.28, before a modest recovery towards the end.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 177,322.77, down 47.93 points or 0.03%.

“The KSE-100 Index opened on a strong footing, surging to an intra-day high of 1,279 points, amid declining oil prices and renewed hopes of a potential peace deal between the US and Iran, which lifted investor sentiment. However, the early optimism failed to sustain as investors resorted to profit-taking following the release of corporate results, trimming the index’s gains,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

On the positive side, HUBC, ENGROH, POL, UBL, and FFC were among the key contributors, collectively adding approximately 493 points to the KSE-100 Index. Conversely, NBP, PPL, and PSO emerged as major laggards, collectively shaving approximately 470 points off the index, it added.

The PSX was closed on Wednesday on account of Eid-Milad-un-Nabi.

On Tuesday, the PSX closed modestly higher as strong buying in banking and cement stocks offset selective profit-taking in energy counters, keeping the index in a relatively narrow range despite intraday volatility. The KSE-100 Index gained 404.02 points, or 0.23%, to close at 177,370.71 points.

Internationally, stocks rose at the start of the Asia-Pacific trading session on Thursday as Nvidia’s latest earnings report beat estimates, lifting tech hardware manufacturers and reviving ‌investor confidence after data overnight showed that the Federal Reserve’s preferred US inflation measure is still running hot.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares excluding Japan was up 0.7%, on track to extend gains into a third consecutive day after Nvidia reported that its quarterly revenue ​more than doubled and forecast third-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates.

The AI chipmaker’s shares jumped 4.7% ​in after-hours trading, lifting S&P 500 e-mini futures by 0.4%.

South Korea’s KOSPI rose 1.5%, paring early gains after the Bank of Korea raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 3%, in line with market views that narrowly expected a hike.

Taiwanese shares rose 0.9%, while the Nikkei 225 slid 0.4%.

Stocks on Wall Street ​edged up overnight, with the S&P 500 closing flat after the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index rose 0.2% in July compared with ​the prior month after a 0.1% decline a month earlier.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee extended its marginal gains against the US dollar on Thursday. The local unit closed the day at 277.51, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 614.06 million from 644.84 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares rose to Rs34.55 billion from Rs31.36 billion in the previous session.

F. Nat.Equities was the volume leader with 86.07 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK with 49.23 million shares, and Tasdeeq Information with 29.68 million shares.

Shares of 496 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 191 registered an increase, 279 recorded a fall, and 26 remained unchanged.