KSE-100 settles with over 800 points loss as Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions take toll

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile session on Friday, as investor sentiment remained dented amid the escalating situation between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The benchmark KSE-100 Index closed the week’s last session with a loss of over 800 points.

The market opened lower and initially dipped to an intra-day low of 165,811.87, shedding over 3,000 points, reflecting early selling pressure.

“The negativity can be attributed to regional tension with Afghanistan, where Pakistan targeted key military installations of the Afghan Taliban regime in Kabul,” said Topline Securities.

“Some recovery was observed later during the day, as no retaliatory strikes were carried out by Afghanistan side in response,” it added.

In the final hours of trading, the index drifted lower and settled in the red.

At the end, the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at 168,062.16, down by 830.92 points or 0.49%.

The top negative contribution to the index came “from UBL, FFC, OGDC, PPL & MCB, as they cumulatively contributed -658 points to the index,“ said Topline.

Pakistan’s military on Friday said it had destroyed more than 73 Afghan Taliban posts and 115 tanks in retaliatory strikes, killing 274 Taliban regime operatives and terrorists and injuring over 400 since Thursday night.

In a post on X at around 4am, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said strikes took place in Kabul, Paktia and Kandahar, with 27 posts destroyed and 9 seized.

Furthermore, “two corps headquarters, three brigade headquarters, two ammunition depots, one logistics base, three battalion headquarters, two sector headquarters and 80+ tanks, artillery, and APCs (Armoured Personnel Carriers) were destroyed”, he added.

During the outgoing month, the KSE-100 Index delivered a lacklustre performance, losing 16,112 points MoM, said Arif Habib Limited (AHL).

“Market sentiment remained weak, caused by geopolitical tensions, foreign selling pressure, some lower than expected corporate earnings and concerns regarding Reko Diq,” said AHL.

On Thursday, PSX staged a strong recovery with broad-based buying lifting key benchmark indices sharply higher, supported by improved investor sentiment and active participation in both ready and futures markets. The KSE-100 Index closed at 168,893.09 points, gaining 4,266.79 points or 2.59%.

Globally, dour sentiment persisted in the Asian trading day on Friday as concerns about technology company valuations weighed on shares and Middle East tensions kept energy markets on edge.

Japanese shares followed Wall Street lower after what appeared to be glowing results from AI sector bellwether Nvidia failed to impress investors. The yen and U.S. Treasuries rose, while gold held steady after a two-day advance.

An Omani mediator of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks gave an optimistic readout over the latest round of negotiations, but uncertainty still hung over energy markets with no sign of a breakthrough that would avert potential U.S. strikes.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index slid 0.8%.

Nvidia posted better-than-expected results for the January quarter on Wednesday and forecast current-quarter revenue above market estimates. But U.S. shares ended lower, and the company’s stock was flat in after-hours trading.

U.S. equity futures slid in Asian trading, with the S&P 500 E-minis down 0.41% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 E-minis dropping 0.36%.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered a marginal gain, appreciating 0.01% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the local currency settled at 279.47, a gain of Re0.03 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index declined to 536.24 million from 692.40 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares decreased to Rs25.54 billion from Rs35.80 billion in the previous session.

Unity Foods Ltd was the volume leader with 50.30 million shares, followed by F. Nat.Equities with 36.24 million shares, and B.O.Punjab with 30.60 million shares.

Shares of 472 companies were traded on Friday, of which 161 registered an increase, 257 recorded a fall, and 54 remained unchanged.