PSX remains volatile amid investor concerns over upcoming budget

KARACHI: After two consecutive bullish sessions, Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a hot and cold trading day, marked by heightened volatility and strategic profit-taking, analysts said on Wednesday. 

The benchmark KSE-100 Index swung widely – hitting an intraday high of 884 points and low of 427 points – before closing at 118,537, down 39 points or 0.03%.

The session saw a tug-of-war between gainers and losers. On the upside, heavyweights such as ENGROH, FFC, MEBL, and UBL led by charge, collectively adding 470 points to the Index.

Pakistan eyes taxing online shopping to increase revenue

However, the rally lost some steam as OGDCL, MCB, BAHL, and MARI dragged the index down by a combined 354 points, offsetting much of early momentum.

“Stocks closed flat uncertainty ahead of federal budget FY26. Dismal monthly data on car sales down 10 percent MoM in April 25, extensively impacted the sentiments,” said Ahsan Mehanti, CEO at Arif Habib Commodities. ‘

Concerns over ongoing tensions over Pakistan, Indian diplomatic ties, and rupee instability played a catalyst role in bearish close, he added.

“The benchmark Index ended the session relatively flat, as investors adopted a wait and see approach. With most known factors already priced in, market participants stayed cautious ahead of the upcoming budget,” Ismail Iqbal Securities research stated.

Trading volumes decreased to 274 million shares today as compared to 366 million shares in the previous session.

Market participation remained low as compared to yesterday, with total traded volume reaching 603 million shares and a traded value of PKR 41.8 billion representing the highest in five months. PREMA topped the volume leaderboard with 38.7 million shares exchanged.

Rare blue diamond fetches $21.5mn at auction

In the last session, Pakistan Stock Exchange closed on a positive note gaining 1,278.15 or (1.09%)  closing at 118,575.88 level. Basically, it was the bullish momentum from the previous session carried forward, fuelled by robust institutional buying particularly from local mutual funds as indicated by NCCPL data.