Bears tighten grip on PSX as early gains vanish

KSE-100 retreats 2,588 points; investors wary of making fresh bets

KARACHI:

Selling pressure intensified at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday, wiping out early gains and pushing the market deep into the red, as investors remained wary of building fresh positions.

The benchmark KSE-100 index swung between the intra-day high of 169,686 and low of 165,391, reflecting heightened volatility. Persistent stock selling dragged the index down by 2,588.35 points, or 1.54%, to 165,823.88 at the end of trading.

The decline was broad-based, with all major sectors contributing to the downturn. Heavyweight commercial banks led the losses while oil and gas exploration firms, oil marketing companies, power producers and refineries also remained under pressure.

Despite a positive start initially, the market failed to sustain momentum as profit-taking accelerated. The reversal underscored fragile investor confidence, with participants opting to reduce exposure amid uncertainty in key sectors.

Arif Habib Limited (AHL) observed that a huge day of heavyweight earnings largely disappointed and saw the market under pressure, which shed 1.54%. On the benchmark index, only 21 shares rose while 79 fell, with Millat Tractors (+4.08%), Cherat Cement (+2.69%), and DG Khan Cement (+1.63%) being the major positive contributors. In contrast, UBL (-2.65%), NBP (-8.77%), and Oil & Gas Development Company (-3.11%) were the biggest index drags.

Among corporate results, Pakistan Petroleum (-3.36%) reported 9MFY26 earnings per share (EPS) of Rs22.34, down 15% year-on-year, and declared a dividend of Rs6 per share. PSO (-4.37%) posted EPS of Rs81.19, up 150% YoY, while NBP reported 1QCY26 EPS of Rs7.58, down 26% YoY. Fauji Cement posted Q1CY26 EPS of Rs12.14, up 30%, with a dividend of Rs8.5 per share. DG Khan Cement reported 9MFY26 EPS of Rs19.07, up 51%, and OGDC posted EPS of Rs26.8, down 11%.

In addition, Pakistan was preparing to tap international capital markets with a diversified fundraising strategy as Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said the issuance of a $250 million Panda bond was in final stages. Globally, oil prices were rising again, extending a multi-day rally, on reports the US would extend its blockade of Iranian ports.

With the market closed on Friday because of Labour Day holiday, "we are heading into the last session of the week with the KSE-100 down 2.9% over the week and trading below the previous week's low, from where a pullback is expected," AHL anticipated.

According to KTrade Securities' equity trader Ahmed Sheraz, Pakistan's bourse closed down 2,588 points, where persistent selling pressure without a meaningful recovery reflected weak sentiment and a lack of fresh buying. Despite this, the KSE-100 volumes stayed decent at 448 million shares, signalling active participation but clearly skewed towards the sell side.

Pressure was led by banks and exploration & production firms as UBL, NBP, OGDC, Engro Holdings, Pakistan Petroleum, HBL, Pakistan State Oil and MCB Bank were among the key laggards. Additionally, the result season came into play, with earnings largely in line with expectations or slightly down without major surprises, keeping the sentiment muted, Sheraz said.

Macro situation continued to dominate as Brent crude neared $115 per barrel – its highest since 2022 – stoking inflationary concerns alongside recent 100-basis-point policy rate hike by the State Bank of Pakistan. Elevated oil prices were adding pressure on the external account and the overall sentiment. With US-Iran talks stalled and no near-term relief on oil in sight, the outlook stays cautious, where range-bound trading is likely to persist under a negative bias, he added.

Overall trading volumes dropped to 1.09 billion shares compared to Tuesday's total of 1.19 billion. The value of shares traded during the day stood at Rs39.5 billion.

Shares of 488 companies were traded. Of these, 88 jumped, 362 fell, and 38 remained unchanged.

Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with trading in 105.7 million shares, falling Rs0.32 to close at Rs8.41. Foreign investors bought shares worth Rs521 million, the National Clearing Company reported.