PSX: selling engulfs bourse, KSE-100 settles nearly 1,500 points lower

After days of buying momentum, selling returned at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding nearly 1,500 points on Friday.

The market opened with sharp fluctuations, initially declining towards the intraday low of 172,809.89 before recovering some of its losses. The index subsequently gained momentum, climbing towards the 174,000 level around midday, but failed to sustain the upward trajectory.

Selling pressure intensified during the latter part of the session, dragging the benchmark lower from its afternoon highs. However, a late-session recovery helped the index pare some losses.

Despite intermittent buying interest and a late-session recovery, selling pressure dominated the session, keeping the benchmark in negative territory.

At close, the KSE-100 settled at 173,886.68, shedding 1,493.18 points or 0.85%.

Analysts noted that persistent geopolitical uncertainties and an apparent stalemate in ongoing peace negotiations were likely to weigh on investor sentiment and keep the market cautious.

Top negative contribution to the index came from UBL, LUCK, ENGROH, FFC and PPL, as they cumulatively weighed down on the index by 606 points, Topline Securities said.

On the economic front, foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by $39 million to $21.56 billion during the week ended October 30, 2026.

Meanwhile, according to the World Bank, Pakistan’s external debt stock rose by 4% to $135.1 billion in 2025, with multilateral and bilateral creditors accounting for the majority of public and publicly guaranteed external debt.

On Thursday, PSX extended its bullish run as a sharp retreat in international oil prices and improved global risk appetite following the US midterm elections triggered broad-based buying. The KSE-100 Index advanced by 3,366.38 points, or 1.96%, to close at 175,379.87 points.

Globally, Asia’s tech-heavy markets ​crumbled on Friday as fear of increased regulatory scrutiny and a slowdown in AI build-out unleashed the steepest decline in US ‌stocks since the tariff-triggered “Liberation Day” rout in April 2025.

South Korea’s KOSPI fell more than 8% to trigger a circuit breaker and was last down 7% after trading resumed. Japan’s Nikkei slumped 6% while Taiwan was last down more than 8%.

Wall Street’s volatility “fear gauge” soared; the Nasdaq sank 5.5% and $3 trillion was wiped off S&P 500 companies, with ​investors worried Democrats, who dominated the midterm elections this week, will apply the brakes to the AI boom.

The political jitters are ​hitting an AI trade already on shaky footing due to worries about the return on investment for the enormous ⁠sums of money being poured into the technology.

Market participants see Asia’s chipmakers and data centre equipment suppliers in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan as especially vulnerable, and they had already tumbled on Wednesday and Thursday.

AI chipmakers Samsung Electronics fell nearly 10% while SK Hynix slid 11.7%. Kioxia plunged 14% while TSMC was down 8.5%.

AI investor SoftBank Group slid 11%, ​while the cost of insuring against a default for SoftBank jumped to its highest point in four years on Friday.

European stock futures fell 1%, indicating ​that the sell-off was likely to spread across to Europe.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee continued its marginal gain against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday. The local unit closed the day at 276.66, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 1,479.99 million from 999.81 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares declined to Rs22.57 billion from Rs46.06 billion in the previous session.

Bawany Air(R) was the volume leader with 687.38 million shares, followed by Tasdeeq Information with 140.78 million shares, and WorldCall Telecom with 72.15 million shares.

Shares of 500 companies were traded on Friday, of which 190 registered an increase, 277 recorded a fall, and 33 remained unchanged.