The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a bearish trend on Thursday as investors opted to book profits, leading to a notable decline in the benchmark index.
During the early trading session, the KSE-100 Index dropped by 605 points, or 0.36%, reaching 165,947.80 points.
Selling pressure was observed across major sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banking, oil and gas exploration, power generation, oil marketing companies (OMCs), and refineries.
Key stocks dragging the index downward included ARL, Hubco, Mari, OGDC, POL, PPL, HBL, Meezan Bank, and National Bank.
A day earlier (Wednesday), the market had also closed on a negative note after a volatile session, with the KSE-100 Index shedding 793.56 points (0.47%) to settle at 166,553.28 points.
On the international front, Asian stock markets continued to trade lower on Thursday as disappointing earnings reports from major technology firms deepened selling pressure on Wall Street.
Meanwhile, new U.S. sanctions on Russia and China reignited geopolitical concerns, while global oil prices recorded a significant rise.
According to MSCI, the broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.3%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.5%.
In Hong Kong, Chinese stocks declined 0.4% after reports that the White House was considering new export restrictions on software-based products in response to China’s recent ban on rare mineral exports.
In the U.S., after two consecutive days of losses, S&P 500 E-mini futures showed a marginal 0.1% uptick early Thursday. However, weak earnings from major tech firms continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
Netflix shares plunged over 10% after the streaming giant’s forward guidance disappointed investors, while Tesla shares slipped 3.8% in after-hours trading despite record third-quarter revenues — as profits fell short of market expectations.
