PSX slips lower as early gains fade

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened on a positive note on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index briefly climbing past the 170,300 level before losing momentum as early gains evaporated amid profit-taking.

At 10:30am, the benchmark index was hovering at 169,243.95, a decrease of 207.91 points or 0.12%.

Selling pressure was observed in key sectors, including cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies and OMCs. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, POL, SNGPL, SSGC, HBL, MCB, MEBL and NBP, traded in the red.

In a key development, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) improved Pakistan’s growth outlook for both 2025 and 2026, as the prices of key food items have begun to stabilise following a sharp increase in the months immediately after the floods.

On Wednesday, PSX witnessed an active yet directionless trading session, as strong investor participation across multiple sectors contrasted with an almost unchanged finish in the benchmark index. The KSE-100 Index closed with a marginal loss of 4.52 points at 169,451.86.

Globally, stocks wobbled around Asia on Thursday after disappointing earnings at US cloud computing giant Oracle sounded a warning for AI profitability, while bonds were firm and the dollar nursed losses after the Federal Reserve cut US interest rates.

Shares tumbled more than 11% after hours, dragging S&P 500 futures 0.3% lower and Nasdaq 100 futures down about 0.5% in Asia trade.

AI-related stocks were the biggest losers in Tokyo, as Oracle’s profit and revenue outlook missed forecasts and executives flagged higher spending - a sign that infrastructure outlays are not turning into profits as quickly as investors had hoped.

Japan’s Nikkei traded either side of flat in the morning session, with a 5% drop in the AI-exposed SoftBank Group holding back the index.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.8% in early trade to put MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.5%.

Overnight, the Fed lowered its benchmark funds rate, as expected, by 25 basis points to 3.5-3.75%.

But Fed Chair Jerome Powell sounded balanced on the outlook at a news conference, easing market nerves about a hawkish message. Wall Street indexes rallied after the rate cut, and the S&P 500 rose about 0.7%.

This is an intra-day update