Heavy profit-taking was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding over 1,200 points to settle below the 168,000 level on Monday.
Negative sentiments prevailed throughout the trading session, dragging the benchmark index to an intra-day low of 165,997.36.
At close, the KSE-100 Index settled at 167,752.40, a decrease of 1,237.67 points or 0.73%.
Speaking to Business Recorder, Sana Tawfik of Arif Habib Limited (AHL) attributed the selling pressure to profit-taking.
“It is mainly profit-taking. Apart from that, the rise in trade deficit and inflation rate, which was expected, is adding pressure on the bourse,” she said.
However, October marks the start of the results season, which is expected to lend support to the market, she said.
“Additionally, if the ongoing IMF review concludes successfully, the resulting disbursement will further strengthen foreign exchange reserves, which will provide another layer of support to the market.
“Overall, these factors collectively point toward a positive market outlook,” said Tawfik.
Meanwhile, brokerage house Topline Securities in its post-market report stated that the market concluded the session on a negative note, pressured by escalating geopolitical concerns related to India, cautious investor sentiment, and heightened profit-taking.
The decline was largely driven by losses in stocks such as ENGROH, MEBL, HUBC, BAFL, and UBL, which collectively dragged the index down by 625 points. However, partial support came from FFC, AICL, and HBL, contributing a combined 279 points, it added.
In a key development, Pakistan recorded the fastest decline in sovereign default risk, according to Bloomberg, and now stands second globally—behind only Türkiye.
During the previous week, the PSX maintained its strong upward momentum, with the KSE-100 Index closing at an all-time high of 168,990.06 points, marking a 4.1% week-on-week (WoW) increase. According to JS Global Capital, this represents the best nine-month performance since 2009, fuelled by continued investor optimism, sectoral strength, and improving macroeconomic indicators.
Internationally, Japanese stocks surged more than 4% to an all-time high while the yen skidded on Monday after fiscal and monetary dove Sanae Takaichi was elected as leader of the ruling party, putting her on course to become the nation’s first female prime minister.
Japan’s Nikkei soared as much as 4.3% to an unprecedented 47,734.04 in the first 15 minutes of trading after Takaichi bested the more moderate Shinjiro Koizumi in the Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership vote on Saturday, stoking expectations for fiscal stimulus.
Most other major share markets around the region were closed for holidays, including mainland China, South Korea and Taiwan.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.3%, ahead of a holiday on Tuesday. Australia’s benchmark eased 0.1%, though trading was thinned by holidays in several states, including New South Wales and Queensland.
US S&P 500 futures pointed 0.2% higher, after the cash index rose to a record high on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee saw a slight gain against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Monday. At close, the currency settled at 281.25, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 1,274 million from 1,573 million recorded in the previous close. The value of shares declined to Rs60.54 billion from Rs78.67 billion in the previous session.
B.O.Punjab was the volume leader with 131.31 million shares, followed by K-Electric Ltd with 110.02 million shares, and Bank Makramah with 78.28 million shares.
Shares of 487 companies were traded on Monday, of which 108 registered an increase, 348 recorded a fall, while 31 remained unchanged.
