The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended Thursday’s session on a subdued note despite experiencing heightened trading activity and an early intraday surge. The benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 124,093.12 points, reflecting a decline of 259.56 points or 0.21%. This performance followed a volatile trading day marked by investor optimism early on and profit-taking later in the session.
Throughout the day, the index oscillated within a wide range of 2,871.73 points. It reached an intraday high of 126,718.28 points, up by 2,365.60 points, and touched a low of 123,846.55 points, down by 506.13 points. Notably, a new record intraday high of 125,675.57 points was established at 11:06 AM, showcasing a gain of 1,322.89 points or 1.06%.
This early rally was attributed to improved market sentiment following the announcement of the 2025–26 budget. Analysts linked the bullish start to signs of fiscal continuity, a reduction in policy uncertainty, record remittance inflows, and investor expectations of monetary easing in the near term. These factors collectively boosted investor confidence and triggered a wave of buying in the early hours.
However, the market could not sustain its gains. The index later dipped to an intraday low of 124,807.09 points, still reflecting a modest gain of 454.41 points or 0.37% from the previous close at that moment. Total intraday traded volume reached 74.63 million shares, while the full-day volume on the KSE-100 Index totaled 371.98 million shares.
Market breadth tilted negative by the close, with 63 of the 100 constituent stocks declining, 35 advancing, and 2 remaining unchanged. Among the notable laggards were HUMNL (-4.55%), KEL (-4.20%), POML (-3.83%), PSX (-3.73%), and AKBL (-3.19%). Conversely, top gainers included BNWM (+10.01%), PKGP (+10.00%), GHGL (+7.30%), IBFL (+4.84%), and NML (+3.76%).
The companies exerting the most downward pressure on the index were ENGROH (-113.40 points), FFC (-81.67 points), PPL (-75.62 points), OGDC (-70.33 points), and BAFL (-60.29 points). In contrast, PKGP contributed a significant 124.83 points upward, followed by UBL (+64.92), BAHL (+58.80), LUCK (+56.88), and DGKC (+41.10).
Sectoral performance was also mixed. Investment Banks, Oil & Gas Exploration, Fertilizer, Automobile Assemblers, and Oil & Gas Marketing sectors collectively pulled the index down by over 400 points. The Cement sector led the support group with an addition of 144.23 points, followed by Power Generation & Distribution (+49.77), Glass & Ceramics (+43.30), Textile Composite (+17.95), and Miscellaneous (+15.15).
In the broader market, the All-Share Index closed at 77,106.29 points, recording a loss of 221.51 points or 0.29%. Overall trading activity showed a slight dip, with total market volume declining to 1,024.56 million shares from the previous session’s 1,041.13 million. Despite this, the traded value increased to Rs50.54 billion, a rise of Rs3.83 billion.
A total of 489,502 trades were executed across 474 companies. Out of these, 170 stocks closed higher, 270 declined, and 34 remained unchanged, indicating cautious investor behavior amid short-term market uncertainty.