Pakistan Stock Exchange Slips After Overnight Gain as Profit‑Taking Sets In

KARACHI: Following a sharp overnight rebound, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) faced intense profit‑taking on Tuesday, pushing the benchmark KSE‑100 index into negative territory at close.

Topline Securities Ltd noted that the PSX experienced a volatile session, with the benchmark index swinging throughout the day. The KSE‑100 opened higher and reached an intraday peak of 860 points, equivalent to 179,123.01, buoyed by early buying interest.

However, investors began to lock in recent gains during the second half of the session, sparking broad profit‑taking.

Consequently, the index erased its earlier advance, dipped to an intraday low of 827 points (177,434.96) before closing at 177,623.88, a decline of 638.45 points or 0.36 %.

Profit-taking drags index into negative territory

The refinery sector stayed in focus after reports indicated that the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) approved amendments to the Pakistan Oil Refining Policy 2023, clearing the final obstacles that had postponed refinery upgrade agreements since the policy’s announcement in August 2023.

The decision triggered robust buying interest in the sector, driving Attock Refinery, Pakistan Refinery, National Refinery and Cnergyico PK to close higher and outperform the broader market.

Conversely, shares of United Bank, Oil and Gas Development Company, Hub Power, Pakistan Petroleum and Bank of Punjab pressed down on the benchmark, together trimming about 318 points from its gains.

Trading activity eased compared with the prior session, as volume fell 7.8 % to 958 million shares and the traded value reached Rs41.5 billion. Cnergyico PK led the volume leaders, with almost 273 million shares exchanged.

Arif Habib Ltd observed that the market turned bearish as investors engaged in profit‑taking.

Nevertheless, early‑session sentiment stayed bullish after the United States and Iran extended their pause in hostilities, shifting focus to discussions between Tehran and Oman about restoring traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and China deepened their economic ties by signing investment and commercial agreements valued at roughly $1.4 billion at the Pakistan‑China Business Conference, opening avenues for expanded industrial cooperation, technology transfer and local manufacturing.

Analysts added that, following a consolidation phase, the 180,000 level continues to serve as the near‑term target for the KSE‑100 index.

Source link