Bears Haunt PSX as KSE-100 Index Suffers Worst Single-Day Drop in History 

Bears continued stampede at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index plummeted by nearly 3,800 points.  Profit-taking saw the KSE-100 index lose 3,790 points to close at 111,070.29 points, down 3.41 percent over the previous closing.  This was KSE-100 index’s biggest ever single-day decline (in terms of points), eclipsing the black Tuesday on November 26, 2024, when the benchmark index fell by 3505.62 points. Brokerage house Topline Securities pointed out that local mutual funds, having been net buyers for the past fourteen consecutive trading sessions, shifted to net sellers yesterday. Market sentiment suggests that they continued this selling trend today as well, it added. The primary drivers of the downward movement were MARI, FFC, HUBC, PPL, and MEBL, which collectively accounted for an alarming 1,731 points of the index’s overall decline, Topline added. A total of 1,109,421,372 shares were traded during the day as compared to 1,252,980,316 shares the previous day. The price of shares stood at Rs. 60.14 billion against Rs. 62.72 billion on the last trading day.  472 companies transacted their shares in the stock market today with 89 of them recording gains and 349 sustaining losses, whereas the share price of 34 companies remained unchanged.