The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened Thursday’s session on a bearish note as investors opted to book profits, leading to a decline of more than 600 points in the benchmark KSE-100 Index.
By 9:45 a.m., the index had dropped 605.47 points, or 0.36%, to 165,947.80 points. Selling pressure was particularly visible in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration, OMCs, power generation, and refineries.
Major stocks weighing down the index included Attock Refinery Limited (ARL), Hub Power Company (HUBCO), Mari Petroleum (MARI), Oil & Gas Development Company (OGDC), Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Meezan Bank, and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP).
The bearish sentiment followed Wednesday’s volatile session, which also closed lower, as the KSE-100 Index had shed 793.56 points or 0.47%, settling at 166,553.28 points.
Globally, Asian stock markets extended their losses for the second consecutive day on Thursday after disappointing earnings from major U.S. tech companies intensified the sell-off on Wall Street.
Meanwhile, rising geopolitical tensions—following new U.S. sanctions on Russia and China—fueled investor uncertainty, even as oil prices surged sharply during the session.
According to MSCI, the broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.5%. Chinese stocks in Hong Kong slipped 0.4% amid reports that the White House was considering new export restrictions on software-based products in response to China’s curbs on rare mineral exports.
On Wall Street, after back-to-back declines, S&P 500 e-mini futures showed a marginal 0.1% uptick early Thursday, as analysts digested weaker-than-expected corporate earnings from major U.S. tech firms.
Netflix shares plunged over 10% on Wednesday after the streaming giant issued a disappointing forecast for the upcoming quarter, while Tesla stock dropped 3.8% in after-hours trading despite posting record third-quarter revenue, as profits still missed market expectations.
