Key Takeaways
- KSE-100 index closes at 165,966, down 453 points.
- Engro Fertiliser reports strong Q3 profits, up 57% year-on-year.
- Market expected to remain volatile with cautious sentiment.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened the week on a depressed note, with the KSE-100 index closing at 165,966, down 453 points or 0.27 percent, reflecting cautious investor sentiment.
Persistent regional and political turmoil, coupled with elevated international oil prices and political instability in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, continued to weigh on market sentiment, keeping investors cautious and limiting recovery attempts.
Topline Securities Ltd reported that index-heavy stocks, including United Bank, Engro Holdings, Systems Ltd, Hub Power, and Sazgar Engineering Works, emerged as major laggards, collectively shaving about 273 points off the benchmark.
Trading volume dipped to 370 million shares, while turnover edged up to Rs19.5 billion. Pakistan Refinery topped the volume chart with 52 million shares.
Ali Najib, deputy head of trading at Arif Habib Ltd, noted that the PSX witnessed a lacklustre session as jittery conditions forced the index to close below the 166,000 level. The index opened on a negative note and touched an intraday low of 165,918 before staging a recovery to a high of 166,698.
However, the recovery proved short-lived as selling pressure intensified in the second half, erasing gains and dragging the index back towards its intraday low by close.
Engro Fertiliser reported net profit of Rs9.1 billion (earnings per share Rs6.83) for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2026, up 57 percent year-on-year, supported by stronger fertiliser offtakes. The company announced a cash dividend of Rs5.50 per share, compared with Rs4.50 per share in the same period last year, implying an 80 percent payout ratio.
Analysts expect the market to remain volatile and range-bound between 164,000 and 168,000 amid cautious sentiment and evolving macroeconomic and geopolitical developments.
The brokerage noted that the index opened on a negative note and touched an intraday low of 165,918 before staging a recovery to a high of 166,698. However, the recovery proved short-lived as selling pressure intensified in the second half, erasing gains and dragging the index back towards its intraday low by close.
