Equities falter below 166,000 amid selling pressure

Dawn reported that the Pakistan Stock Exchange started the week on a weaker footing, with the benchmark KSE-100 index closing at 165,966 after a fall of 453 points, or 0.27 per cent. According to Topline Securities, investors stayed wary as unrest in the region, political tension in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and costlier global crude kept buyers on the sidelines. With no fresh positive catalyst in sight, the market struggled to build on early attempts at recovery.

Heavyweight stocks weighed most on the index, as United Bank, Engro Holdings, Systems Ltd, Hub Power and Sazgar Engineering Works were among the biggest laggards, together pulling the benchmark down by roughly 273 points. The index had dipped to 165,918 intraday and climbed to 166,698 before the rebound faded in the second half. Trading volume slipped to 370 million shares while turnover rose to Rs19.5bn, with Pakistan Refinery leading the volume table on 52 million shares.

Engro Fertiliser's net profit rose 57 per cent year on year to Rs9.1bn, or Rs6.83 per share, for 3QCY26, helped by stronger fertiliser offtakes. The company also announced a cash dividend of Rs5.50 per share, up from Rs4.50 a year earlier, equal to an 80 per cent payout ratio.