The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a significant bearish trend on Thursday, as the benchmark KSE100 index plunged by more than 1,100 points amidst a sharp contraction in trading activity, wiping billions from the market”s daily traded value.
The KSE100 index concluded the trading session at 181,456.34, recording a substantial loss of 1,113.48 points, or 0.61 per cent, compared to the previous day”s close of 182,569.82. The market displayed considerable volatility throughout the day, trading between a high of 183,717.54 and a low of 180,783.63.
Similarly, the KSE30 index followed the downward trajectory, closing at 55,625.67. The index declined by 403.87 points, which translates to a 0.72 per cent fall from its prior position of 56,029.54.
Investor participation saw a marked decrease, with overall market turnover in the regular market falling to 820.04 million shares from 1.03 billion shares in the preceding session. The traded value experienced an even steeper decline, plummeting to PKR 45.98 billion from the previous day”s PKR 65.96 billion.
The widespread selling pressure eroded the overall wealth of the bourse, as the total market capitalisation contracted to PKR 20.537 trillion from its previous level of PKR 20.630 trillion.
Other segments of the market, including Deliverable Futures Contracts (DFC) and the Odd Lot Market (ODL), also registered considerable reductions in both trading volume and value, reflecting the broad-based negative sentiment across the exchange.