Stocks fall below 175,000 on geopolitical tensions

Trading on the Karachi bourse ended with the benchmark KSE-100 at 174,776.60, having surrendered 1,690.40 points, or 0.96 per cent, according to Topline Securities Ltd. Its intraday range ran from a low of 174,562 to a high of 175,841. Selling pressure followed renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran, with strikes and retaliation pushing oil prices sharply higher.

Dawn reported that Meezan Bank, United Bank, Pakistan Petroleum, Fauji Fertiliser and Lucky Cement together pulled the index lower by about 604 points. Engro Fertiliser, Thal and Askari Bank partly offset that decline, adding roughly 139 points between them. Trading activity thinned, with volume falling 22.21 per cent to 610 million shares and turnover down 14.83 per cent at Rs31.8 billion.

Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd, said sentiment stayed bearish as fighting between the two countries resumed and each side kept trading strikes across the region. Pakistan is planning to raise $2bn through a Eurobond to repay bilateral loans owed to Saudi Arabia or China. Analysts quoted in the report expect profit-taking and stock-specific swings during the current results season, with geopolitics and oil prices remaining the main drivers.