The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained under severe pressure on Tuesday due to cautious investor sentiment and large institutional sellers, resulting in significant declines in both the KSE-100 Index and the KMI-30 Index. The overall trend of the market remained negative at the end of the trading day, while selling pressure was more prominent in large stocks related to banking, energy, fertilisers and oil and gas.
According to available market data, the KSE-100 Index opened at 178,112 points and maintained the same level as the highest level during the day; however, the index later fell to a low of 173,349 points due to continuous selling. At the end of the trading, the index closed at 173,518.82 points, which shows a decrease of 6,408.23 points, or 3.56 percent compared to the previous session.
Similarly, the KMI-30 Index was also under significant pressure. The index opened at 251,217 points but closed at 244,367.91 points by the end of the day, down 9,164.01 points, or 3.61 percent. The index had its lowest level during the trading session at 243,992.99 points.
According to market data, the total trading volume of shares of companies included in the KSE-100 index was 409.23 million shares, while the volume of the KMI-30 index components was recorded at 157.85 million shares, indicating that the selling was not limited to limited sectors but was seen in various segments of the market.
Banking and large corporate shares under pressure
According to the closing market data, the stocks that contributed the most negatively included UBL, ENGRO, FFC, LUCK and MEBL. The significant selling in these companies played a major role in bringing down the overall performance of the KSE-100 index.
On the other hand, the number of stocks that played a positive role was very limited. UPFL was the only prominent company that provided a slight positive support to the index, but its impact was very limited compared to the overall decline.
The situation was almost the same in the KMI-30 index, where ENGRO, LUCK, MEBL, OGDC and FFC were among the biggest negative contributors to the index. This shows that the selling of large investors was also prominent in the Islamic index.
Investors remain cautious
According to analysts, in the recent session, investors mostly adopted a strategy of profit-taking, risk reduction and waiting before new investments. When uncertainty increases in the market, large investors usually adopt a defensive position, as a result of which shares of banking, energy and large industrial companies come under pressure first.
Experts say that although a sharp decline in one day does not completely determine the overall trend of the market, if the continuous selling trend persists, investors will pay more attention to future economic indicators, corporate results and policy decisions.
Annual performance also under pressure
According to the data, the KSE-100 index has recorded a negative performance of 3.76% since the beginning of the financial year (FYTD) and a negative performance of 0.31% since the beginning of the calendar year (CYTD).
Similarly, the MI-30 index recorded a negative FYTD performance of 5.04% and a negative CYTD performance of 1.68%, which shows that the index comprising Islamic shares is also under pressure in the initial period of the year.
What to watch next?
According to market observers, investors will pay special attention to the following factors in the next few sessions:
- Quarterly financial results of listed companies
- New data on economic indicators and inflation
- Expectations regarding interest rates
- External financial and geographical factors
- Buying and selling trends of institutional investors
Analysts say that if there is a return to buying in major sectors, the market may stabilise; however, investors are making decisions keeping in mind short-term fluctuations.