Equities turn flat after early rally

The Pakistan Stock Exchange ended a jittery session on Thursday, after the mid-week Eid Miladun Nabi holiday, with the benchmark KSE-100 closing almost flat amid geopolitical and political worries. According to Dawn, the index opened higher and briefly gained 1,279 points to 178,650.02 on lower oil prices and hopes of an accord between Washington and Tehran. Those gains faded as investors booked profits after earnings releases, and the index ended at 177,322, 47 points or 0.03 per cent lower.

Topline Securities said the index also slipped to 177,196.29 at its weakest point during the session. Hub Power, Engro Holdings, Pakistan Oilfields, United Bank and Fauji Fertiliser were the main contributors, together adding about 493 points. On the downside, National Bank, Pakistan Petroleum and Pakistan State Oil pulled the index down by roughly 470 points. Investor participation weakened, with 611.6m shares traded and turnover of Rs34.5bn.

Attock Petroleum posted FY26 earnings of Rs17.0bn, with earnings per share of Rs136.31 up 63 per cent, while fourth-quarter earnings fell 19 per cent to Rs2.2bn. Pakistan Oilfields reported fourth-quarter profit after tax of Rs12.4bn, up 67 per cent, and full-year profit after tax rose 32 per cent to Rs31.9bn. Hub Power posted fourth-quarter profit after tax of Rs16.5bn, up 39 per cent year on year, and set a Rs5 per share payout for the quarter.