PSX sheds over 2,600 points in early trade

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened in the red on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index witnessing an immediate decline of 929.54 points in the opening hour.

The downtrend deepened within minutes, leading to a further loss of 2,671.97 points.

However, after 9:40 AM, the KSE-100 index began to recover, rising by 674.73 points to reach approximately 95,503.48 by 10:13 AM.

Despite this brief rebound, the index resumed its downward trajectory, losing 480.61 points by 11:04 AM, with the PSX standing at 110,589.68, reflecting a 0.43 per cent loss from its previous close of 111,070.29 on Wednesday.

On the previous trading day, the KSE-100 index fluctuated within a range of 5,340.43 points, hitting an intraday high of 116,236.70 (+1,376.02) and a low of 110,896.27 (-3,964.41). The total trading volume on Wednesday amounted to 507.24 million shares.

Out of the 100 index companies, nine closed higher, while 91 ended the day lower.

The top losers included MARI (-10.00 per cent), NBP (-10.00 per cent), NML (-8.43 per cent), PGLC (-8.34 per cent), and PABC (-8.08 per cent).

On the other hand, the top gainers were POML (+6.34 per cent), PSO (+5.13 per cent), HGFA (+2.62 per cent), INDU (+2.17 per cent), and BOP (+1.09 per cent).

In terms of index-point contributions, MARI (-633.52 points), FFC (-523.88 points), HUBC (-249.13 points), PPL (-173.50 points), and MEBL (-150.71 points) were the major drags.

Conversely, PSO (+132.56 points), INDU (+19.83 points), PAEL (+5.16 points), BOP (+4.95 points), and PSX (+3.76 points) helped to offset the decline.

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