Bulls Stumble as Bears Reclaim Control Amid Volatility
The trading day began on a strong footing, with the KSE-100 Index extending its upward momentum and surging by as much as 1,178 points in early trade.
However, the bullish sentiment proved fleeting as profit-taking led by local institutions triggered a sharp reversal. The bears swiftly regained control, dragging the benchmark down by 1,424 points from it’s intraday high to close at the 164,444 level, posting a decline of 1,241 points or 0.75%.
The correction was largely attributed to institutional portfolio rebalancing and profit-taking at elevated levels following the recent historic rally, as cautious investor sentiment prevailed.
Losses were primarily driven by ENGRO, SYS, FFC, BAHL, and EFERT, which collectively eroded 658 points from the benchmark index. However, downside pressure was partially offset by gains in HMB, UBL, HUBC, PPL, and PSEL, which together contributed 231 points.
Investor interest remained resilient, with total traded volumes soaring to 1,390 million shares, while market turnover reached an impressive Rs. 50.5 billion. KEL emerged as the volume leader with 1.02 billion shares changing hands.
Earlier, PSX 100 Index on Thursday continued to gain in opening hours of trading. It started to gain 993 points or 0.60 percent to 166679.57 points.
Stock market on Wednesday also gained due to agreement reached between Pakistan and IMF.
