PSX touches 170k glory, closes flat on profit-taking pullback
Pakistan's KSE-100 index flirted with fresh highs, surging past the psychologically pivotal 170,000-point barrier intra-day before a wave of profit-taking pulled it back to a near-flat close at 169,452—down a mere 5 points.
The session kicked off with bullish vigor, extending a multi-week rally, but skittish investors cashed in gains as the benchmark hovered above the round number, injecting volatility into an otherwise resilient market.
"The day began on a strong note as the KSE-100 extended its bullish momentum and briefly crossed the 170k mark," noted Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd. "However, investors opted to book gains at higher levels, pushing the index into negative territory by the close."
Today, 69% of the total equity value traded at PSX was in Shariah-compliant stocks!
Learn about the top 3 Shariah Compliant Stocks in today's PSX Market Breakdown pic.twitter.com/3IoCaU3vdNOn the news front, Bloomberg reported that 2026 is shaping up to be a standout year for IPOs, with as many as 16 new listings planned by leading domestic brokers.
Meanwhile, the ECC approved revised margins for oil marketing companies and petroleum dealers on MS and HSD, linked to CPI for FY24 and FY25. The increase, capped between 5–10%, will be released in two phases—half immediately and the remainder contingent on digitisation progress.
Among major movers, MLCF, LUCK, ISL, FCCL and DHP contributed 509 points, while FFC, SRVI, PPL, ENGROH and HUBC collectively dragged the index by 526 points.
Market activity remained robust, with 1.19 billion shares traded and total turnover of Rs 50.4 billion. HUMNL led the volumes with 132 million shares.
As the 170k level was breached on an intra-day basis but quickly met with profit-taking, we cannot rule out a consolidation over the next couple of sessions.