KSE-100 Slips Below 165,000 as Nervous Selling Grips PSX
KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange extended its losing run on Tuesday as nervous investors sold off positions, pushing the benchmark KSE-100 below 165,000.
Topline Securities said the index fell 347.97 points, or 0.21 per cent, to close at 164,776.44. The benchmark stayed range-bound through the session, reflecting cautious sentiment and steady selling pressure on heavyweight stocks.
Political uncertainty weighed on the market following the imposition of governor’s rule and an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Economic concerns persisted despite the finance minister’s optimism that GDP growth would exceed 4 per cent this fiscal year, even with the oil shock.
KSE-100 below 165,000: what drove the fall
The session opened on a positive note after the previous day’s sell-off, and the index climbed to an intraday high of 166,071. But profit-taking at higher levels cut the recovery short and dragged the benchmark into negative territory by the close, said Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd.
Pakistan Telecommunication Company, United Bank, Habib Bank, Lucky Cement and Mari Energies were the main laggards, together wiping 343 points off the index.
Participation improved even as prices fell. Trading volume rose 5.72 per cent to 384 million shares, while traded value slipped 9.67 per cent to Rs13.1 billion.
On the sectoral front, auto sales offered a mixed read. Sales of cars, LCVs, vans and jeeps fell 3 per cent month-on-month and 12 per cent year-on-year to 15,100 units in September. Cumulative sales in the first quarter of FY27 still rose 19 per cent to 50,500 units.
Our data: a week of wild swings at the PSX
Tuesday’s close continues a turbulent week for the market. On Monday, the KSE-100 plunged 1,964 points in one of the heaviest sell-offs of the year. Buying returned on Tuesday last week, lifting the index by more than 400 points and briefly steadying nerves.
This week’s drop erases that recovery and takes the index back below 165,000, a level investors had treated as near-term support. The back-and-forth shows how tightly the market is tracking political headlines rather than company earnings.
Analysts expect volatility to continue while domestic political uncertainty lasts. Selective value buying may cushion further falls, but investors are advised to stay cautious, favour fundamentally strong stocks and avoid aggressive positions until sentiment stabilises.
Why did the KSE-100 fall on Tuesday?
Nervous investors sold amid political uncertainty after the imposition of governor’s rule and an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Profit-taking at higher levels also erased an early recovery, according to Arif Habib Ltd.
Which stocks dragged the index down?
Pakistan Telecommunication Company, United Bank, Habib Bank, Lucky Cement and Mari Energies were the major laggards, collectively wiping 343 points off the benchmark.
What did the finance minister say about growth?
The finance minister expressed optimism that GDP growth would exceed 4 per cent this fiscal year, even with the oil shock, but the assurance did little to calm investors.
