PSX turns lower after early IMF-led gains as geopolitical worries weigh

KARACHI: Pakistan's stock market swung sharply on Wednesday, with an early rally at the Pakistan Stock Exchange losing steam as investor sentiment weakened amid geopolitical concerns.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index started the day on a firm note and remained in positive territory during the opening hours. By 9:45am, the index had climbed as much as 672.16 points, supported by buying in a range of heavyweight sectors.

According to market activity reported during the session, gains were seen in automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, oil marketing companies, power generation firms and refinery stocks.

The initial upward move followed the State Bank of Pakistan's announcement that it had received $1.3 billion from the International Monetary Fund under the Extended Fund Facility and Resilience and Sustainability Facility programmes. The inflow helped improve investor confidence at the start of trading.

That momentum, however, did not hold. As geopolitical unease resurfaced, investors moved to book profits and trim positions, pulling the market into negative territory.

During trading, the KSE-100 Index was reported at 168,015.09 points, down 902.33 points, or 0.54%. Traded volume stood at 148.70 million shares, while the total value of shares traded was Rs8.95 billion. Trading was still underway at the time the figures were reported, with investors watching both economic developments and the broader geopolitical situation.

Previous session closed lower

In the previous session on Tuesday, the PSX also experienced a mixed but mostly negative day as caution persisted over geopolitical uncertainty linked to US-Iran peace negotiations.

After opening on a positive footing, the KSE-100 Index advanced in early trade and touched an intra-day high of 171,571.56 points as buying interest returned. The rise later faded, however, as profit-taking emerged in the second half of the session.

The benchmark then fell to an intra-day low of 168,823.32 before settling at 168,916.22, showing a decline of 1,590.09 points, or 0.93%.

Overall market participation also eased. Trading volumes fell to 1.02 billion shares from 1.10 billion shares recorded a day earlier, while the value of traded shares was Rs32 billion.

A total of 485 companies' shares changed hands during Tuesday's session. Of these, 106 stocks posted gains, 346 declined and 33 remained unchanged.

Cnergyico PK led the volume chart, with 154.1 million shares traded. The stock added Rs0.15 to close at Rs8.81.

The National Clearing Company reported that foreign investors were net buyers of shares worth Rs280.4 million.

The latest market moves reflected a pattern of early optimism being overtaken by caution, as investors balanced support from the IMF-related inflow against uncertainty on the geopolitical front.