KSE-100 Index slides 3.23% WoW as US-Iran talks remain deadlocked

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index declined 3.23% on week-on-week basis as investor sentiment remained fragile amid continued deadlock in US-Iran peace negotiations, with the absence of any tangible diplomatic breakthrough fueling concerns over rising geopolitical uncertainty.

Participation at the bourse declined during the outgoing week, as average daily traded volume and value stood at 827 million shares and Rs25 billion (down by 39% WoW) respectively, brokerage house Topline Securities said in a report.

Selling continued at the PSX on Friday, last session of the week, with the benchmark index losing over 900 points.

The market opened the session under pressure and witnessed sharp selling in early trade, dragging the index from the 166,800 region toward the intra-day low near 165,291.53 points.

After the initial decline, value hunters entered the market around the lower levels, helping the index recover part of its losses before mid-day.

In the second half of the trading session, selling pressure pushed the index lower again. At close, the benchmark index settled at 165,596.07, down by 902.76 points or 0.54%.

“While the Panda Bond was a win, it hasn’t been enough to shield the market from the IMF’s stark warnings on regional exposure and the ongoing Trump-Xi stalemate in Beijing regarding the Iran conflict,” said Behtari Capital.

Top negative contribution to the index came from BAHL, ENGROH, FFC, LUCK, UBL, OGDC, and MEBL, as they cumulatively weighed down on the index by 1,143 points, Topline said.

On Thursday, PSX extended its losing streak as market sentiment remained cautious amid persistent uncertainty surrounding US-Iran developments and elevated international oil prices.

The KSE-100 ended all five sessions of the week in the red, closing down by 3.23%.

In a key development, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slapped 11 new Structural Benchmarks (SBs) on Pakistan including parliamentary approval of a fiscal year 2027 budget in line with IMF staff agreement to meet programme targets, notification of the semi-annual gas tariff adjustment, the annual power tariff adjustment and enhancing the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) autonomy and transparency by submitting to parliament amendments to the NAB ordinance to establish an open, merit-based, rigorous and competitive selection process of senior management.

Globally, Asian shares came under pressure on Friday as investor euphoria over tech stocks gave way to inflation fears, with Treasury yields spiking to one-year highs and rising bets on a US rate hike this year.

Oil prices kept climbing amid a lack of progress toward opening the Strait of Hormuz, and as US President Donald Trump said China wanted to buy US oil.

All eyes are on ​Beijing, where Trump is set to wrap up his two-day state visit on Friday. Trump’s entourage includes Tesla CEO ⁠Elon Musk and Jensen Huang, chief executive of chipmaker Nvidia.

NVIDIA surged 4.4% overnight after the US cleared the sales of the company’s H200 chips ​to Chinese firms, lifting the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to new record highs.

The euphoria, however, failed to spread to Asia. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific ​shares outside Japan fell 1.2% on Friday, more than wiping out this week’s gain so far.

Japan’s Nikkei also dropped 1.2% as data showed the country’s wholesale inflation accelerated to 4.9% in April, the fastest pace in three years, leaving the Bank of Japan on track to raise interest rates.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee posted marginal gain against the US dollar in inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the local currency settled at 278.61, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 625.45 million from 706.02 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares rose to Rs22.31 billion from Rs19.92 billion in the previous session.

Hascol Petrol was the volume leader with 86.25 million shares, followed by K-Electric Ltd with 78.24 million shares, and Cnergyico PK with 46.44 million shares.

Shares of 485 companies were traded on Friday, of which 168 registered an increase, 272 recorded a fall, and 45 remained unchanged.