PSX: selling pressure at bourse, KSE-100 sheds nearly 2,000 points amid political volatility

Business Recorder reported that the Pakistan Stock Exchange ended lower on Monday, as the benchmark KSE-100 index dropped 1,964.86 points, or 1.18 per cent, to finish at 165,124.41. The index had risen to an intraday peak of 166,988.32 early in the session but could not hold those gains. Losses deepened after 1pm, leaving the index near its daily low as trading wound up.

Analysts traced the sell-off to political uncertainty at home after the federal government put emergency rule in place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Saad Hanif, Head of Research at Ismail Iqbal Securities, said high global oil prices and geopolitical tensions were weighing on sentiment, which was already cautious. According to Hanif, investors are keeping away from the market, so participation is thin and the index is under pressure.

The index had already lost 1,066.20 points, or 0.6 per cent, in the previous week amid Iran-US friction and Houthi-Saudi hostilities. Abroad, Asian shares started cautiously as the earnings season loomed, while oil was choppy following strikes that hit Gulf shipping and airports. Liquidity stayed light, with Japanese markets closed and the US on a partial holiday, while an energy ceasefire announced by Trump between Ukraine and Russia remained unverified.