Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended Thursday’s session with a light dip when dealers stayed on the sidelines in the middle of a mix of domestic and external pressure. The KSE-100 index abandoned 151 points to close at 147,344, reflecting the lack of clear direction over a week’s dominated by contract rolls.
Investors remained careful in the wake of concern about flooding risks for agriculture in Punjab and a muted growth prospects signaled by the central bank. Softer crude oil prices internationally and rollover-associated volatility added to the investor hesitation, keeping the overall activity in check.
Arif Habib Corp MD Ahsan Mhanti commented that the stocks closed lower in the midst of the investor’s fear of devastating flood loss in Punjab, which threatens agricultural growth in the middle of central bank’s hints for thin FY26 growth.
Read: Comprehensive sales on PSX lead to fifth straight loss
“High leverage levels and pressure from Futures Contract rolls as well as falling global crude oil prices were the catalysts for Bearish close to PSX,” he said.
Ktrade Securities wrote in its market wrapping that PSX expanded its consolidation phase and closed slightly lower in the middle of volatility and futures rollover -pressure. The index fell 151 points (-0.10% day-to-day) to close on 147,344, after briefly hit the intra-day high at 148,042 points.
Sentiment remained cautious about selling across key sectors such as banking and fertilizer. Major Laggards included Habib Bank, Fauji Fertilizer, Bank Al Habib, Faysal Bank, Systems Limited and MCB Bank.
Read more: PSX closes lower in the middle of the contract’s rollover -print
The total market volumes reached 935 million shares. PACE (Pakistan) led the quantities with 71.5 million shares changing hands, followed by Bank Makramah (66 million) and packing electron (51.2 million), it says.
On the positive side, selective purchase in Sazgar Engineering, Lucky Cement and United Bank helped limit loss.
