After a strong start, profit-taking gripped the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, erasing early gains as the benchmark KSE-100 settled with a loss of over 1,300 points.
Trading kicked off on a positive note with the benchmark index hitting an intra-day high of 151,249.62. However, the market resorted to profit-taking, dragging the KSE-100 Index down to 148,272.57.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 149,235.26, a loss of 1,355.74 points or 0.90%.
Sana Tawfik, Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited, said the decline is largely attributable to profit-taking after a recent rally.
Despite the intraday dip, Tawfik emphasised that overall market sentiment remains positive, supported by the ongoing corporate result season and expectations surrounding a potential circular debt resolution.
Investors are closely monitoring earnings announcements from key listed companies.
Meanwhile, Waqas Ghani, Head of Research at JS Global, said “some profit-taking is natural” after recent gains.
On Wednesday, the PSX advanced further into record territory, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at an all-time high of 150,591.00 points, gaining 820 points or 0.55%.
Globally, Asian stock markets were broadly mixed on Thursday.
Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.6% in the morning session, retreating further from the record peak reached on Tuesday.
Despite a tech-led selloff on Wall Street overnight, Japanese chip stocks were a mixed bag, with Advantest up 3% while Tokyo Electron dropped 2%.
South Korea’s KOSPI bounced 0.9% after dipping to a six-week low on Wednesday. Australia’s benchmark gained 0.6% and renewed an all-time high.
Mainland Chinese blue chips gained 0.5%, although Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was largely flat.
US stock futures pointed lower, with Nasdaq futures sagging 0.2% and S&P 500 futures easing 0.1%.
Overnight, the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.7% and the S&P 500 cash index slipped 0.2%.
Traders currently lay odds of about 80% for a quarter-point Fed rate cut on September 17, and price in a total of 52 basis points of easing over the rest of the year.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee recorded its 10th successive gain against the US dollar. At close, the rupee settled at 281.92, a gain of Re0.03.
American Dollar Exchange Rate