KARACHI:
The Pakistan Stock Exchange extended its losing streak, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding 736 points, or 0.45%, to close at 164,531.
The market witnessed sharp volatility throughout the session on Thursday, swinging between an intraday low of 164,307 (-0.58%) and a high of 166,730 (+0.89%), reflecting growing investor caution.
Persistent selling by local institutions and insurance companies continued to weigh on sentiment, keeping value investors on the sidelines as intraday recoveries failed to hold, observed Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading, Arif Habib Ltd.
On the macroeconomic front, the IMF reaffirmed its intent to continue talks with Pakistani authorities ahead of the next loan tranche, while remittance inflows provided some optimism — rising 8% year-on-year to $9.6 billion in 1QFY26, including $3.18 billion in September, up 11% YoY and 1.45% MoM.
In stock-specific moves, MCB, Lucky Cement (LUCK), Engro Holdings (ENGROH), Pak Services (PSEL), and PSO collectively added 419 points to the index. On the other hand, HBL, UBL, NBP, Systems Ltd (SYS), and BAFL dragged the benchmark down by 641 points.
Trading activity remained healthy, with total volumes reaching 1.57 billion shares and traded value at Rs50.4 billion. K-Electric (KEL) led the volumes chart with 278.9 million shares.
Analysts noted that the market has broken below its recent consolidation band of 165,000–170,000 points, indicating a potential shift in momentum. Thursday’s session will be pivotal — a recovery into this range could restore investor confidence, while continued weakness may signal a deeper correction or a possible trend reversal.
