Selling pressure returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index falling more than 800 points during intraday trading as tensions in the Middle East kept investors cautious.
At 11:20am, the KSE-100 stood at 168,534.86 points, down 857.46 points, or 0.51 percent, from the previous close of 169,392.32.
By 1:08pm, the index had recovered some of its losses but remained in negative territory at 168,754.65 points, down 637.67 points, or 0.38 percent. The index moved between an intraday high of 169,382.01 and a low of 168,334.74, while trading volume reached 72.8 million shares.
Selling was visible across several key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies and oil marketing companies. Heavyweight stocks such as Oil and Gas Development Company, Pakistan Petroleum, Pakistan State Oil, Habib Bank, MCB Bank and National Bank of Pakistan were trading lower.
National Bank was among the notable decliners in active trading, falling 4.47 percent to Rs170.50. WorldCall Telecom was down 1.89 percent at Rs1.04, while Bank of Punjab slipped 1.08 percent to Rs30.35. On the other hand, Cnergyico rose 0.63 percent to Rs12.89 and Dolmen City gained 3.16 percent to Rs9.80.
Several stocks posted gains of around 10 percent. First Paramount Modaraba, Oil Marketing Limited, Mughal Wire and Metal Products, Khyber Chemical Company and Pak International Modaraba were among the leading advancers. Century Paper and Board and S.G. Power also recorded strong gains.
The market’s broader weakness came a day after the KSE-100 staged a sharp recovery. On Tuesday, the index gained 1,421.67 points to close at 169,392.33 after the State Bank of Pakistan kept its policy rate unchanged at 11.50 percent. The decision triggered selective buying across major sectors and helped the market regain much of its previous losses.
Global market sentiment remained cautious on Wednesday ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision. Asian stocks moved between gains and losses, while rising bond yields and oil prices added to investor concerns.
The S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent overnight, extending its decline for a second session. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury briefly crossed 5 percent on Tuesday, reaching its highest level since 2007, before easing slightly in Asian trading.
Market participants were also pricing in a higher chance of a 25-basis-point Federal Reserve rate hike. According to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, the implied probability stood at 92.4 percent, up from 59.4 percent a week earlier.
Trading at the PSX remained in progress at the time of reporting.
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