Selling returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as its benchmark KSE-100 Index lost over 1,200 points during trading on Wednesday.
The KSE-100 witnessed some buying in the initial hours, pushing the index to an intra-day high of 118,811.24.
However, the latter hours saw selling pressure that pushed the index to an intra-day low of 117,120.39.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 117,226.15, down by 1,204.21 points or 1.02%.
“This reversal in sentiment can largely be attributed to escalating regional geopolitical tensions, which prompted investors to adopt a cautious stance and lock in recent gains,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
The downward trajectory of the index was significantly influenced by negative contributions from key stocks, including UBL, HUBC, HMB, MARI, and ENGROH, which collectively dragged the index down by 526 points, it added.
On Tuesday, the benchmark index had closed flat after range-bound trading.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised downward gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate projection by 0.4% for Pakistan to 2.6% for fiscal year 2025 against earlier projection of 3% (January 2025).
The Fund in its latest report, “World Economic Outlook (WEO) a critical juncture amid policy shifts”, projected GDP growth for Pakistan at 2.6% for 2025 and 3.6% for 2026.
The IMF in January 2025 WEO had projected GDP growth rate for Pakistan at 3% for fiscal year 2025 and 4 percent for 2026.
Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings projected that Pakistan would gradually devalue its currency to avert likely pressure on the current account as economic activities picked up in the country.
Bloomberg reported that “the ratings company sees the rupee falling to 285 against the dollar by the end of June and weakening further to 295 by the end of the next fiscal year in 2026,” citing Krisjanis Krustins, Director of Asia Pacific Sovereign Ratings at Fitch.
Internationally, stock markets were enjoying a much-needed relief rally in Asia on Wednesday after President Donald Trump said he had no plans to fire the head of the Federal Reserve, and hinted at lower tariffs for China.
The dollar jumped across the board after Trump walked back on threats to dismiss Fed Chair Jerome Powell, which had badly shaken investor confidence in U.S. assets.
Trump also reiterated he wanted to do a deal with China where tariffs would not be anywhere near 145%, but added that he would set the terms of a deal if Beijing did not enter talks.
Earlier on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had been reported saying he believes there will be a de-escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions, but negotiations with Beijing have not yet started and would be a “slog”.
“While it is still early days, the mood in the market is evidently shifting and what was a strong ‘sell America’ vibe flowing through markets yesterday has in part reversed,” said Chris Weston, head of research at broker Pepperstone.
“Markets are becoming ever more conditioned to the President shooting from the hip and then reversing the stance like it was never a big issue.”
Investors reacted by buying back into beaten-down stocks and Japan’s Nikkei jumped 2.3% in early trade, while South Korea’s main index rose 1.2%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab added 0.3%.
Wall Street extended an overnight bounce as S&P 500 futures climbed 1.8% and Nasdaq futures 2.0%. Sentiment had been helped by some upbeat earnings results, and even Tesla rebounded 5% after the bell despite missing forecasts.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered marginal decline against the US dollar as it depreciated 0.07% in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. At close, the local currency settled at 280.97 against the greenback, down by Re0.20 against the previous day close.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 605.17 million from 740.87 million recorded in the previous close.
The value of shares declined to Rs27.76 billion from Rs30.52 billion in the previous session.
B.O.Punjab was the volume leader with 58.49 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 33.01 million shares, and Power Cement with 29.59 million shares.
Shares of 457 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 127 registered an increase, 276 recorded a fall, while 54 remained unchanged.
