The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed strong selling pressure, with its benchmark KSE-100 Index losing over 2,200 points during trading on Thursday.
At close, the KSE-100 settled at 115,019.82, down by 2,206.33 points or 1.88%.
“The KSE-100 Index extended its previous day’s losses, remaining under pressure throughout the session. Weighed down by escalating regional tensions between India and Pakistan and the conclusion of futures rollover week, the market adopted a distinctly risk-off tone,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
The bulk of the negative contribution came from HUBC, ENGRO, MARI, BAHL, and UBL, which collectively shaved 605 points off the index, it added.
The KSE-100 had closed at 117,226.15 in the previous session.
Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) on Thursday rejected the Indian government’s announcement to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, emphasising that any attempt to stop or divert Pakistan’s share of water would be considered an “act of war” and met with a full-force response across the entire spectrum of national power, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Thursday.
On Wednesday, India stalled key water-sharing treaty named Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, following an attack on tourists that killed 26 men in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)’s Pahalgam area, for which New Delhi blamed Pakistan.
Globally, stocks drifted on Thursday and a rebound in the dollar lost traction as investors tried to sift through the noise from the Trump administration and its fickle stance on tariffs and the Federal Reserve’s leadership.
Just this week, U.S. President Donald Trump has rained attacks on Fed head Jerome Powell, then retracted calls for the chair’s resignation, and left investors none the wiser on the ultimate state of tariffs on China despite many headlines around it.
The Trump administration would look at lowering tariffs on imported Chinese goods pending talks with Beijing, a source told Reuters on Wednesday, after a Wall Street Journal report that the White House is considering cutting its tariffs on Chinese imports.
But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later said that such a move would not come unilaterally, echoing comments from White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee declined against the US dollar on Thursday, depreciating by 0.04% to hit 15-month low in the inter-bank market. At close, the local currency settled at 281.07 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 506.70 million from 605.17 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares declined to Rs24.49 billion from Rs27.76 billion in the previous session.
Power Cement was the volume leader with 37.32 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 31.30 million shares, and Sui South Gas with 23.40 million shares.
Shares of 456 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 83 registered an increase, 339 recorded a fall, while 34 remained unchanged.
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