Bears take control at PSX as KSE-100 index loses over 3,000 points

Absence of positive signals from Strait of Hormuz and budgetary concern weigh on market sentiment

KARACHI:

Bears dominated trading at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday as investors reacted to rising inflation and prevailing geopolitical concerns. The benchmark KSE-100 Index remained under pressure throughout the session, with broad-based selling dragging the market sharply lower.

The index touched an intraday high of 174,171.64 points before heavy selling pushed it to a low of 170,396.85 points. By the close, the benchmark index had shed 3,362.62 points, or 1.93%, to settle at 170,600.20 points.

Investor sentiment was weighed down by uncertainty surrounding the government's upcoming budget processing to satisfy both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the public. At the same time, the absence of progress in United States-Iran peace talks and continued uncertainty surrounding shipping through the Strait of Hormuz added to investor nervousness.

Selling was largely witnessed in major sectors such as automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies.

Read: PSX surges 4% in holiday-shortened week

Cumulatively, trading volume jumped to 589.7 million shares from the previous session’s 555 million. The value of traded shares stood at Rs31.9 billion. In ready market, shares of 489 companies were traded of which 168 rose, 296 fell and 25 remained unchanged.

Dewan Cement was the volume leader with trading in 43.3 million shares, rising Rs0.48 to close at Rs11.23.

In a key macroeconomic development, Pakistan's Consumer Price Index (CPI) for May 2026 clocked in at 11.7% year-on-year, the highest reading since June 2024 compared with 10.9% in April 2026. The higher-than-expected inflation reading further dampened market sentiment and raised concerns over the future interest-rate outlook.

Despite the sharp decline in the latest session, the KSE-100 recovered 6.7% month-on-month in May 2026 to close near the 174,000-point level, reducing its calendar-year 2026 losses to below 1%, JS Global Capital noted.

However, trading activity remained subdued throughout the month amid geopolitical uncertainty and a lower number of trading sessions, it added.