Stocks fall over investor caution

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) fell modestly on Thursday as investors remained cautious owing to the dearth of major positive cues that could revive interest and build confidence.

In a major news report, the global indices provider, MSCI, announced results of its latest review, where it made changes in global indices constituents, effective from the market close on November 24, 2025. Arif Habib Limited (AHL), in its report, mentioned that Pakistan's market outperformed the MSCI Frontier Market (FM) index by 14.6% in fiscal year 2026 to date.

Earlier, the bourse opened on a positive note and hit the intra-day high of 160,591 points in the very first hour of trading. However, it could not sustain the momentum as selling pressure built, which pulled the benchmark KSE-100 index down to the intra-day low of 158,253 well before midday.

Though the market recovered significantly, it again fell later and closed with modest losses amid lacklustre trading, influenced by the cautious mood of investors. At close, the KSE-100 index posted a decline of 481.40 points, or 0.30%, to settle at 159,096.79.

Topline Securities, in its review, remarked that the stock market lost steam after a lively start to the week. "The market remained lacklustre, with sentiment weighed down by the absence of any major news flow. After oscillating between the intra-day high of 1,012 points and low of 1,325 points, the KSE-100 index eventually settled at 159,097, losing 481 points," it said. "With no clear drivers in sight, investors chose to stay cautious, leading to another session of muted trading and range-bound activity." Losses were largely driven by UBL, Meezan Bank, OGDC, Maple Leaf Cement and Engro Holdings, which eroded 285 points from the index, Topline added.

AHL mentioned that Pakistan's weight in the MSCI FM standard index was expected to be around 6.67%. In the review, Meezan Bank, The Bank of Punjab (BOP) and Askari Bank were added to the FM Standard Pakistan Index. Meanwhile, no deletion was observed.

Overall trading volumes increased to 957.3 million shares compared with the previous tally of 860.3 million. The traded value of shares stood at Rs30.4 billion.

Shares of 476 companies were traded on the ready market, out of which 199 closed higher, 230 declined and 47 remained unchanged.

Bank Makramah led the volumes chart with trading in 93 million shares, losing Rs0.18 to close at Rs5.50.