PSX: KSE-100 sheds over 1,100 points on selling pressure
- Benchmark index settles at 167,441.90
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw a volatile trading session on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index shedding over 1,100 points amid profit-taking.
The benchmark index initially saw positive momentum, hitting an intraday high of 169,486.60 before coming under sustained selling pressure through midday.
A modest recovery attempt in the later afternoon failed to hold, with the benchmark drifting to close near its low.
At close, the KSE-100 settled at 167,441.90, down 1,138.50 points or 0.68%.
In a key development, the IMF and Pakistani authorities reached a staff-level agreement, which is subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board. Upon approval, Pakistan will have access to about $1 billion under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and about $210 million under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), bringing total disbursements under the two arrangements to about $5.7 billion.
On Wednesday, buying interest at lower levels, particularly in oil and gas and refinery stocks, helped the PSX recover from intraday profit-taking, allowing the benchmark KSE-100 Index to extend its positive momentum. The benchmark KSE-100 Index increased by 120.30 points, or 0.07%, to close at 168,580.41 points.
Globally, Asian shares slipped on Thursday as strains in sovereign bond markets were aggravated by reports that some major tech companies were seeking to raise billions in debt in direct competition for limited funding.
A fresh rise in oil prices added to the pressure on Treasuries, though a strong auction of US 10-year debt overnight did help pull yields off 24-year peaks.
While lofty yields underpinned the dollar, the euro slid to near 17-month lows as concerns over France’s finances spread to Italian and Greek debt.
The steady climb in borrowing costs put equities on the defensive, and Japan’s Nikkei eased 0.9%, with South Korea down 0.6%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.1%.
On Wall Street, S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were barely changed. In Europe, EUROSTOXX 50 futures, DAX futures and FTSE futures all edged up 0.1% after sliding on Wednesday.
The Wall Street Journal added to media reports that SpaceX, Broadcom and Oracle were looking to raise money to buy AI chips.
Broadcom was looking for $50 billion in financing, while SpaceX was planning to issue $30 billion in investment-grade debt and raise $10 billion in loans to buy chips from Nvidia, which is a major shareholder in SpaceX.
The news saw credit default insurance on SpaceX jump to record highs, while its shares and bonds lost ground.
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