PSX downtrend enters fourth day

Index falls for 4th straight day, sheds 736 points on selling by local, foreign players

KARACHI:

Continuing its losing streak, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ceded further ground in its fourth consecutive decline on Thursday, weighed down by selling from local institutions and foreign corporates, which wiped out all the early gains.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decline of 735.94 points, or 0.45%, to settle at 164,530.81.

The day began on a positive note as the KSE-100 index reached its intra-day high of 166,730 points in the very first hour. However, it could not sustain the growth and started coming down, losing all the early gains by midday. Thereafter, the index made some recovery, but it again took a dive before close. It touched the day's low at 164,307 and ended trading slightly above that level.

In its review, Topline Securities remarked that optimism about the International Monetary Fund (IMF) review faded as profit-taking dragged the benchmark index lower.

The local bourse opened on a strong footing, with the KSE-100 index surging to the intra-day high of 1,463 points amid improved investor sentiment, it said. Optimism prevailed after reports that the IMF had shared the draft Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) with the Ministry of Finance. Confidence further strengthened following Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb's statement that Pakistan had met all IMF targets and a staff-level agreement was expected soon once the MEFP was signed.

However, Topline added, the early optimism proved short-lived as heavy selling from local institutions and foreign corporates eroded gains, pulling the index down to the intra-day low of 959 points. The benchmark eventually settled at 164,531, down 736 points.

"PTCL attracted strong investor interest, closing in the green with 119 million shares traded, after Topline released a research report, assigning the stock a fair value of Rs65," it said. Major drags were HBL, UBL, NBP, Systems Ltd and Bank Alfalah, which wiped out 639 points from the index. Conversely, selective buying in MCB Bank, Lucky Cement and Engro contributed 317 points, providing some cushion to the KSE-100, it added.

Arif Habib Limited (AHL) commented that it was the fourth consecutive close in the red, with the KSE-100 approaching "the 163.8k-164.2k downside draw and the low of the day at 164.3k".

Some 31 shares rose while 68 fell, where MCB Bank (+2.25%), Lucky Cement (+1.56%) and Engro Holdings (+1.27%) contributed the most to index gains. HBL (-3.09%), UBL (-1.27%) and NBP (-3.76%) were the biggest drags, it said.

According to the State Bank data, AHL mentioned, remittances for Pakistan increased 8% year-on-year (YoY) to $9.6 billion during 1QFY26 and rose 11% YoY to $3.18 billion in September 2025.

Apart from that, Indus Motor approached the Engineering Development Board to seek clarity on the procedure for initiating commercial imports of used vehicles. In another report, the IMF said it would continue to engage with Pakistani authorities to iron out pending issues before releasing the next loan tranche, AHL said.

"Amid persistent profit-taking and a lack of fresh positive triggers, the benchmark index ended the day in negative territory after a session of significant volatility," said Mohammed Waqar Iqbal of JS Global. The KSE-100 declined 736 points, with banking, power and oil & gas sectors contributing the most to the losses, he added.

Overall trading volumes increased to 1.6 billion shares compared to Wednesday's tally of 1.3 billion. The traded value of shares was Rs50.5 billion. Stocks of 481 companies were traded. Of these, 184 closed higher, 264 declined and 33 remained unchanged.

K-Electric was the volume leader with trading in 278.9 million shares, but its share price lost Rs0.31 to close at Rs6.92. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom, which recorded trading in 193.6 million shares, up Rs0.10 to close at Rs1.77 and PTCL with trading in 119.9 million shares, surging Rs2.31 to close at Rs35.68. Foreign investors sold shares worth Rs166 million, the NCCPL reported.