PSX slides over 4,000 points amid broad-based selling

Selling dominated the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday, with the KSE-100 Index tumbling more than 4,000 points in early trade as investor caution returned following Thursday’s strong rally.

At 11:20 AM, the benchmark was trading at 158,459.94, down 2,750.73 points. Before noon, the index had fallen to the day’s lowest at 157,072.64 points. The sell-off spanned major sectors, including oil and gas exploration, power generation, refineries, automobile assembly, cement, commercial banks, and fertilisers. Heavyweights such as HUBCO, MARI, POL, PPL, MCB, MEBL, NBP, and UBL all saw declines.

Thursday had marked a robust recovery, with the KSE-100 climbing 5,433 points, or 3.49 per cent, to 161,210.68, in one of the index’s strongest single-day gains in recent months.

The downward trend on Friday mirrored pressures in global markets. Asian equities fell, heading for their steepest weekly declines in six years, while oil prices surged more than 15 per cent over the week as tensions in the Middle East persisted.

MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index outside Japan was down 0.4 per cent on Friday and poised for a weekly drop of 6.6 per cent – the largest since March 2020. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.5 per cent and was on track for a 6.5 per cent weekly loss, while South Korea’s Kospi slid toward its biggest weekly decline in six years, down 10.5 per cent.

Energy markets were the primary driver. Brent crude traded around $83 per barrel, up from near $69 just a week ago, while US crude reached a 20-month high earlier in the week. Both benchmarks are set for their largest weekly gains since February 2022.

Investors sought liquidity, factoring in the risk of prolonged geopolitical tensions and the potential for further central bank tightening amid rising energy costs. U.S. Treasury yields rose roughly 18 basis points over the week, the largest weekly increase in nearly a year, while the dollar was on track for its strongest weekly gain in about 16 months.

Profit-taking also contributed to the sell-off, with technology-heavy markets retreating as investors sought to offset losses elsewhere.