The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a bearish trend on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing nearly 500 points during intraday trading.
At 11:30 AM, the benchmark index was down 488.26 points, or 0.3%, standing at 163,956.45 points.
Selling pressure was observed across key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, oil marketing companies, power generation, and refineries. Major stocks such as Mari, HUBCO, POL, SNGPL, MCB, SSGC, MEBL, and UBL were all trading in the red.
The decline follows Thursday’s session, when the PSX closed in negative territory amid heavy profit-taking in major sectors, despite recording the highest trading volume in its history. On Thursday, the KSE-100 Index fell by 1,241.66 points (0.75%), closing at 164,444.72 points.
On the international front, Asian stock markets mirrored Wall Street’s weakness, with bond yields climbing and gold hitting fresh record highs on Friday. Signs of credit stress among U.S. regional banks rattled investor confidence.
Overnight, shares of Zions plunged 13% after the bank disclosed a USD 50 million loss on two California division loans in the third quarter. Western Alliance shares also dropped 11% after it filed a fraud lawsuit against Cantor Group V, LLC. These developments weighed heavily on U.S. banking stocks.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures slipped 0.3% each, with investors awaiting more financial results from U.S. regional banks later in the day. European stock futures dropped 0.7%, while FTSE futures fell 0.9%.
Investor sentiment in equity markets was further dented by escalating trade tensions between China and the United States. On Thursday, China accused the U.S. of “creating unnecessary panic” over restrictions on rare earth metals and rejected the White House’s appeal to lift those restrictions.
The MSCI broad index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.9%, pushing the week into negative territory. Japan’s Nikkei Index declined 1% amid sharp losses in banking stocks. Taiwanese shares also slipped 0.9%, despite TSMC reporting record quarterly earnings and issuing a positive AI-related spending outlook.
