KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended Wednesday’s volatile trading session marginally lower, as early gains driven by positive sentiment ahead of IMF talks gave way to profit-taking in key sectors. The benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at 118,536.52, down 39.36 points or 0.03%, despite briefly surging past the 119,000 level earlier in the day.
During the session, the index moved within a wide range of 1,311.90 points, hitting an intraday high of 119,460.54 and a low of 118,148.64. A total of 273.52 million shares were traded on the KSE-100, while the broader market saw 609.06 million shares change hands across 451 listed companies. The All-Share Index edged up by 30.83 points or 0.04% to close at 73,338.56.
The early momentum was fuelled by optimism over the commencement of talks between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the upcoming FY26 budget, which are expected to focus on tax reforms, energy sector restructuring, and state-owned enterprise overhauls. The positive sentiment was also underpinned by Tuesday’s strong close, when the KSE-100 had gained nearly 1,300 points following the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan.
At around 11:05am, the index had risen over 400 points to reach 118,981.43, with buying interest observed in cement, banking, power, and refinery stocks. Heavyweights such as HUBCO, MEBL, MARI, UBL, and NRL traded in the green at that point.
However, the index failed to sustain its gains as pressure mounted in the latter half of the session. Oil and gas exploration companies were the biggest drag, pulling the index down by 170.57 points, followed by commercial banks (-90.08pts), oil marketing companies (-66.90pts), cement (-56.78pts), and power generation and distribution (-41.47pts).
Among high market cap individual stocks, OGDC (-2.74%) was the biggest contributor to the downside, erasing 129.21 index points, followed by MCB , BAHL , PSO, and MARI.
On the flip side, ENGROH, FFC, UBL, MEBL, and PPL helped cushion the fall.
Top gainers on the day included AGL, FCEPL, LOTCHEM, GADT, and UNITY, while the biggest decliners were IBFL, POML, and NPL etc.
Of the 100 index constituents, 42 closed higher, 55 lower, and 3 remained unchanged. Traded value for the day stood at Rs41.91 billion, down by over Rs10 billion compared to the previous session.
On the global front, Asian markets edged up with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising 0.9%, as easing US inflation data renewed hopes of Federal Reserve rate cuts. US and European equity futures, however, pointed toward a cautious open amid lingering trade tensions and investor focus on major Chinese earnings later this week.
The market now looks ahead to developments from the ongoing IMF review, which could provide key direction for investor sentiment in the coming days.
