PSX: KSE-100 sheds 250 points points as late-session selling erases intra-day gains

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile trading session on Wednesday as the benchmark KSE-100 Index saw its early gains erased by late-session selling.

The benchmark index opened on a weak note, initially witnessing a sharp decline towards an intra-day’s low of 178,642.36 points. However, buying activity helped the benchmark recover during the morning session, taking it above 180,000.

The market subsequently experienced fluctuations, with the index retreating around mid-day before recovering again. It extended its gains in the afternoon session, touching an intra-day high of 180,769.21.

However, the upward momentum could not be sustained, as selling pressure intensified during the latter part of the session. The benchmark plunged from its intra-day peak, briefly approaching 178,800 before staging a modest recovery towards the close.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 179,083.80, down 251.44 points or 0.14%.

“Market sentiment remained generally steady as investors weighed high domestic liquidity against fresh international oil supply concerns and geopolitical developments in the Middle East,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

On the sector front, major activity was observed across cement, and tech stocks, while key commercial banking and E&P names faced consolidation pressures after Tuesday’s rally, it added.

On Tuesday, PSX staged a powerful rally as broad-based buying lifted investor sentiment amid easing geopolitical tensions following US President Donald Trump’s peace remarks. The benchmark KSE-100 Index jumped 5,448.56 points, or 3.13%, to close at 179,335.24 points.

Globally, bonds tumbled, and the dollar stayed firm after a hot US inflation print and hawkish central bank rhetoric raised the risk of an outsized ​half-point rate hike from the Federal Reserve next month, though stocks remained resilient.

Data showed overnight core US inflation ran at a ‌monthly rate of 0.3% in October, higher than the forecast 0.2%. Before the data landed, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said a core reading of 0.3% would prompt him to consider a 50-basis-point hike at the next meeting in December.

Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said two more rate rises were needed, possibly rapidly, and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee warned of a “real inflation ​issue” on hand, while Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson called for gradual rate hikes.

Fed funds futures now imply a quarter-point move is essentially ​locked in, with a 10% probability of a 50 bp rise. A total of three quarter-point moves are fully priced ⁠in by the middle of next year.

In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares rose 0.2%, defying the ​weakness on Wall Street, and Japan’s Nikkei climbed 0.6%.

Shares of SoftBank Group slid 3.3% after it took a net loss of $7 billion in the second quarter, ​hit hard by hefty buildout costs for US data centres.

South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.4%, while China’s blue chips lost 0.2%.

Nasdaq futures bounced 0.5%, while S&P 500 futures rose ‌0.2%. European ⁠stock futures gained 0.6%.

Nvidia remained at the centre of a political storm as the company probes whether CEO Jensen Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. Its shares slid 5.5% overnight, taking losses from their recent peak to 30%.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee continued its marginal gain against the US dollar, appreciating 0.01% in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. The local unit closed the day at 276.62, a gain of Re0.03 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 1,248.21 million from 972.43 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares declined to Rs41.81 billion from Rs50.66 billion in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 231.75 million shares, followed by Tasdeeq Information with 219.68 million shares, and K-Electric Ltd with 42.27 million shares.

Shares of 498 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 255 registered an increase, 215 recorded a fall, and 28 remained unchanged.