A volatile session was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing nearly 400 points on Tuesday.
The market started trading positively, with the KSE-100 hitting an intra-day high of 149,453.19. However, profit-taking returned to the bourse, dragging the index to an intra-day low of 148,312.57.
At close, the KSE-100 Index settled at 148,435.06, a decrease of 380.24 points or 0.26%.
On Monday, PSX came under renewed pressure as across-the-board profit-taking and cautious investor sentiment dragged the indices lower at the onset of rollover week. The benchmark KSE-100 Index plunged 677.75 points, or 0.45%, to close at 148,815.31.
Gains in FFC, HUBC, and POL collectively contributed 295 points to the index. However, these gains were offset by losses in ENGROH, BAHL, MEBL, MCB, and HBL, which together pulled the benchmark down by 549 points, brokerage house Topline Securities said.
Globally, stock markets in Asia followed declines on Wall Street after President Donald Trump announced he was firing a Federal Reserve governor, an unprecedented move that further undermines confidence in the Fed’s independence and US assets.
The US currency fell against the yen and euro after Trump said he was removing Lisa Cook from her position on the Fed’s board of directors, citing allegations of improprieties in obtaining mortgage loans and escalating the president’s battle against the central bank.
“I have determined that there is sufficient cause to remove you from your position,” the president said in a letter to Cook posted on his Truth Social platform, claiming there was enough evidence that Cook had made false statements on mortgage applications.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.6%, after US stocks ended the previous session with mild losses. Japan’s Nikkei index sank 1.1%.
Futures markets pointed to a nervous day ahead for Europe and the US.
Euro Stoxx 50 futures were down 0.57%, German DAX futures were down 0.42% and FTSE futures fell 0.35%. The US S&P 500 e-minis slid 0.17%.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered marginal improvement against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the rupee settled at 281.86, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback. This was rupee’s thirteenth consecutive gain against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 665.42 million from 693.30 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares rose to Rs31.54 billion from Rs26.34 billion in the previous session.
First Dawood Prop was the volume leader with 40.16 million shares, followed by Kohinoor Spining with 33.78 million shares, and Treet Corp with 33.12 million shares.
Shares of 479 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 196 registered an increase, 256 recorded a fall, while 27 remained unchanged.
