The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw another downturn after initial buying on Wednesday, resulting in the benchmark KSE-100 Index dropping by nearly 1,200 points.
The market opened in the positive zone but soon came under selling pressure. At 10:50 AM, the benchmark KSE-100 Index reached 158,406.27 points, reflecting a decrease of 1,171.92 points or 0.73 percent.
Selling pressure was observed in key sectors including Automobile Assemblers, Cement, Commercial Banks, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies, OMCs, Refineries, and Power Generation. MCB, PSO, PPL, POL, OGDCL, Mari, Hubco, NBP, MEBL, and ARL were also trading in the negative zone.
It is worth noting that the stock exchange witnessed a sharp decline on Wednesday, with the KSE-100 Index closing at 159,578.19 points, down by 1,703.58 points or 1.06 percent.
Global Market Trend
Globally, Asian shares rose on Thursday as better-than-expected US economic data encouraged investors to re-enter markets that were trading near record highs after a sharp sell-off in the previous session.
Meanwhile, yields on US Treasuries maintained overnight gains as traders further reduced the chances of a Federal Reserve rate cut next month, leading the dollar to strengthen near a five-month high.
US service sector activity hit an 8-month high in October on Wednesday, as new orders surged, while private sector employment rose by 42,000 last month, exceeding expectations.
This led to an overnight increase on Wall Street as fears of over-exaggerated valuations for technology stocks eased, and positive corporate earnings reports restored investor risk appetite.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei rose by 1.5%, recovering from a 2.5% drop on Wednesday. South Korea’s Kospi also climbed over 2% in early hours, after falling 2.85% in the previous session.
The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced by 0.32%.
Asian stock markets had seen a sharp decline on Wednesday, as concerns over high valuations spooked investors, although most analysts said the decline was not due to any severe underlying distress.
