Selling pressure drags PSX lower, KSE-100 sheds over 1,100 points in early trade

Selling pressure continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as investors engaged in profit-taking after a strong rally earlier in the week, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding over 1,100 points during the opening minutes of trading on Friday.

At 10:05am, the benchmark index was hovering at 163,455.70, a decrease of 1,134.71 points or 0.69%.

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

On Thursday, PSX witnessed a sharp downturn as persistent selling across major sectors dragged the benchmark KSE-100 Index below the 165,000-point mark. The index declined by 1,962.87 points, or 1.18%, to close at 164,590.41 points.

Internationally, Asian shares rallied on Friday as Wall Street earnings and signs of a thaw in US-China relations boosted investor sentiment, while oil prices eased following fresh US sanctions on Russian suppliers.

Intel results after the close in New York beat expectations, adding to a batch of positive US earnings reports. Japan’s Nikkei share gauge jumped before a speech where the nation’s new prime minister is expected to talk about stimulus.

As the US government shutdown blots out most economic data, the spotlight is on Friday’s consumer price figures for signals about next week’s policy meeting at the Federal Reserve.

Sentiment was buoyed after the White House confirmed US President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next week during a tour through Asia as a tariff deadline looms.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.5% in early trade.

Japan’s Nikkei stock index rose 1.2%.

This is an intra-day update