Bears return as profit-taking halts PSX rally

Blue-chip selling halts market momentum, causes KSE-100 to dip below 162,000

After two days of strong gains, the Pakistan Stock Exchange turned bearish as investors resorted to profit-taking, halting the market’s upward momentum. 

The benchmark KSE-100 Index remained under pressure for most of the session on Tuesday, hitting an intraday low of 1,643 points before closing at 161,281, down 1,521 points or 0.93%.

Heavyweight stocks including Engro Corporation (ENGRO), Mari Petroleum (MARI), Bank AL Habib (BAHL), MCB Bank, and TRG Pakistan dragged the index lower, collectively shaving off 543 points.

Despite the negative close, market activity remained robust, with trading volumes surging to 897 million shares and total turnover reaching an impressive Rs37.2 billion, according to Topline Securities. WorldCall Telecom (WTL) led the volume chart with 76.8 million shares traded during the day.