PSX: late selling at bourse, KSE-100 sheds over 800 points

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) observed a volatile trading session, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing with a loss of over 800 points amid late selling on Tuesday.

The market opened on a relatively firm note, climbing to an intra-day high of 170,944.34 before losing momentum.

The index remained broadly range-bound around the 170,400–170,600 level through late morning and early afternoon, but selling pressure intensified after around 2pm, pushing the benchmark sharply lower.

It touched an intra-day low of 169,538.22 near the close, with the index ending only slightly above that level.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 169,600.40 points, down 825.22 points or 0.48%.

In a key development, the government on Monday briefed the visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) review mission that the Gulf War and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz had caused revenue loss in the first quarter and slowed down economic activities, besides informing that around 10,000 federal government employees will be required to digitally declare their movable and immovable assets by October 30, 2026, as part of a mandatory asset declaration regime.

On Monday, the PSX closed lower in a range-bound session as investor sentiment remained fragile amid heightened Middle East geopolitical uncertainty following media reports that US President Donald Trump had rejected an Iranian ceasefire proposal concerning the Strait of Hormuz. The KSE-100 Index declined 339.60 points, or 0.20%, to close at 170,425.62 points.

Globally, oil prices and bond yields were higher in an uncomfortable combination for Asian equities on Tuesday, ​as investors braced for an interest rate hike in Australia and an era where short-term borrowing costs ‌settle at their highest for years.

The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield spiked to a 19-year high above 5.27% overnight for a rise of nearly 50 basis points through September. Yields rise when bond prices fall, and the monthly selloff is the heaviest in two years.

The US 2-year yield has ​moved even further, shooting up more than 57 bps this month to the threshold of 5%, as traders figure ​that US growth and inflation will drive three more Federal Reserve rate hikes by the middle ⁠of next year.

Overnight, only a massive $150 billion boost to a ​buyback plan by chipmaker Nvidia, which lifted the stock price, held the rates-sensitive Nasdaq to a fall of 0.9%.

In Asia, bond markets in Japan, South Korea and Australia traded under pressure, and most regional equity markets slipped.

Fragile sentiment in China’s technology sector, where stocks were hit on Monday by US plans to ban Chinese ​components from data centres, left ​the blue-chip CSI300 index ⁠pinned to a one-year low.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee extended its marginal gains against the US dollar, appreciating 0.01% in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. The local unit closed the day at 277.12, a gain of Re0.03 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 568.04 million from 421.01 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares rose to Rs20.81 billion from Rs17.74 billion in the previous session.

Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with 56.53 million shares, followed by Tasdeeq Information with 56.29 million shares, and K-Electric Ltd with 34.67 million shares.

Shares of 496 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 154 registered an increase, 305 recorded a fall, and 37 remained unchanged.