KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange came under heavy pressure on Wednesday as a wave of institutional selling, triggered by renewed concerns over valuation fatigue and profit-taking after recent gains, pushed the market into a sharp, broad-based decline.
The KSE-100 Index, which attempted early advances and briefly touched an intraday high of 168,160.88, quickly lost steam as reports of aggressive institutional offloading unsettled sentiment. As the session progressed, selling intensified across heavyweight stocks, dragging the benchmark to an afternoon low of 166,115.17 before it eventually settled at 166,145.35 — a steep fall of 1,496.93 points.
BRIndex100 closed at 17,523.51, down 154.73 points or 0.88 percent, with a traded volume of 471.57 million shares. BRIndex30 settled at 56,108.05 after losing 126.02 points or 0.22 percent, on a volume of 345.83 million shares.
Brokerage desks noted that volatility remained elevated throughout the day, with several large-cap counters coming under pronounced pressure and contributing heavily to the downturn. According to market observers, major index heavyweights such as FFC, MEBL, UBL, HUBC and ENGRO collectively wiped out approximately 858 points from the benchmark, deepening the session’s losses.
Overall market capitalization shrank to Rs18.915 trillion from Rs19.031 trillion a day earlier, indicating a sharp erosion in valuations. While traded value in the ready market surged to Rs44.42 billion from Rs37.49 billion, share volumes fell to 593.07 million from 775.54 million, suggesting that larger institutional trades dominated activity as retail participation declined.
Market breadth remained overwhelmingly negative. Out of 473 companies traded in the ready market, 291 closed lower, while only 136 advanced and 46 remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom led the session with 78.63 million shares, closing at Rs1.86. Hub Power Company followed with 46.64 million shares and settled at Rs222.58. TRG Pakistan attracted 33.19 million shares in turnover before finishing at Rs77.09.
PIA Holding Company LimitedB surged by Rs133.33 to close at Rs24,233.33, while Rafhan Maize Products climbed Rs74.69 to settle at Rs9,378.00. On the downside, Hoechst Pakistan experienced a severe fall of Rs104.11 to close at Rs4,200.00, and Unilever Pakistan Foods declined by Rs74.00 to finish at Rs28,925.00, underscoring the extent of the day’s adjustment among heavyweight stocks.
The BR Automobile Assembler Index closed at 24,189.14 after losing 395.91 points or 1.61 percent on a turnover of 5.16 million shares. The BR Cement Index also retreated, ending at 13,417.36 after a decline of 124.49 points or 0.92 percent, with 36 million shares traded.
The BR Commercial Banks Index slipped to 49,225.32, down 361.85 points or 0.73 percent, reflecting sustained selling in the financial sector. The BR Power Generation and Distribution Index dropped 296.29 points to 26,071.49, representing a decline of 1.12 percent on 70.40 million shares.
The BR Oil and Gas Index edged up by 1.79 points to 14,314.28 — a nominal increase of just 0.01 percent — while technology shares softened with the BR Tech & Comm Index closing at 3,918.67 after falling 6.86 points or 0.17 percent despite the sector recording the day’s highest turnover of 136.96 million shares.
By the close of the session, the market had firmly settled into a defensive posture. Analysts noted that with institutional selling dominating flows, heavyweights retreating sharply and overall participation thinning, investors appeared reluctant to extend risk as the week progressed.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025