PSX continues downward trend, closes 447 points lower

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced a continued downturn on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index falling by 447.22 points, or 0.6 per cent, to close at 74,219.44.

This decline follows a 1.2 per cent drop the previous day, highlighting ongoing market volatility.

Throughout the trading session, the index fluctuated within a range of 621.59 points, reaching an intraday high of 74,758.11 points (+91.45) and dipping to a low of 74,136.52 points (-530.13 points). The total trading volume for the KSE-100 index was 138.9 million shares.

Among the 100 indexed companies, 29 closed higher, 66 ended lower, four remained unchanged, and one company did not trade. The decline was largely driven by significant drops in several key sectors. Commercial Banks led the losses, contributing 186.71 points to the decline.

Other major sectors that weighed down the index included Oil & Gas Exploration Companies (-102.26 points), Cement (-39.03 points), Engineering (-37.3 points), and Textile Composite (-26.05 points).

Conversely, a few sectors provided some support to the index. The Fertilizer sector added 5.27 points, Insurance contributed 4.23 points, Power Generation & Distribution added 3.83 points, Leather & Tanneries added 2.89 points, and Automobile Assemblers added 2.52 points.

Leading the decline among individual companies were Habib Bank Limited (HBL), which dragged the index down by 58.45 points, followed by Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) with 57.9 points, Bank Alfalah (BAFL) with 48.79 points, Bank Al Habib Limited (BAHL) with 38.13 points, and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) with 21.26 points.

On the upside, Engro Fertilizers (EFERT) added 16.83 points, Faysal Bank Limited (FABL) contributed 12.44 points, TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG) added 7.9 points, Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) added 6.46 points, and Hub Power Company (HUBC) contributed 5.88 points.

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