PSX: selling pressure at bourse, KSE-100 settles over 450 points lower

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed selling pressure on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing in negative territory with a loss of over 450 points.

The benchmark index opened on a negative note and declined towards the session low of 165,918.34 before recovering sharply, climbing above 166,400 points and hitting an intraday high of 166,698.46.

It traded within a relatively narrow range around 166,400–166,600 for much of the late morning and early afternoon.

However, the market lost momentum in the second half of the session, with the index retreating from its afternoon highs and the benchmark eventually ending trading close to its intraday low.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 165,966.08 points, down 453.63 points or 0.27%.

On Friday, the PSX closed marginally higher as a lack of fresh market triggers and elevated global crude oil prices kept investors cautious, limiting gains during a range-bound trading session. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 233.55 points, or 0.14%, to close at 166,419.72 points.

Globally, Asian share markets slipped on Monday as unease ​over AI’s enormous funding needs undermined confidence ahead of a week packed with earnings, while Chinese economic data pipped forecasts in ‌a positive for world growth.

A fall in oil prices offered some support to bonds and Wall Street stock futures, limiting Asia’s losses. Oil fell following US President Donald Trump’s decision to waive some sanctions on Russia, though he later said a final decision on the matter had not been made.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on ​Saturday that the president would take up to 60 days to assess the economic impact of such a move. Meanwhile, Iran reported another tanker had ⁠hit a mine in the Strait of Hormuz.

Geopolitical tensions combined with safe-haven flows from equities to extend a rally in sovereign bonds, with ​10-year Treasury yields down 4 basis points at 5.0525%, having just recorded their largest weekly fall in over eight months.

All of this helped S&P 500 ​futures edge up 0.7%, while Nasdaq futures rose 1.0%.

Asian markets were hampered by concerns about tech and Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.2%, after losing 5.4% last week. South Korea dropped 0.4%, having shed more than 14% last week, while Taiwan fell 1.4%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.6%.

This is an intraday update