KARACHI: The Pakis­tan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its losing streak for the third straight session amid the deteriorating security situation and political uncertainty, pushing the benchmark KSE 100 index below 113,000 on Monday.

Topline Securities Ltd said the index mirrored the trend in global markets, reacting negatively to the news that US President Donald Trump had ordered sweeping tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada, and China. This announcement created a ripple effect in international markets, and the local market followed suit.

The index opened the day under pressure and quickly descended, hitting an intraday low of 1,574 points. Despite a slight recovery, the market could not sustain any positive mom­entum, ultimately closing at 112,745 points, down by 1,510 points or 1.32pc day-on-day.

The growing concerns over escalating trade tensions and the potential impact on global economic stability largely influenced investor sentiment. Consequently, the KSE-100 followed the international market’s lead, with significant losses across various sectors.

On the domestic front, Pakistan’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January was recorded at 2.41pc, the lowest level in 111 months, compared to 4.1pc in December 2024, providing a brief positive note amid the broader market decline.

Key contributors to the index’s negative performa­nce included Engro Holdi­ngs, Mari Energies, Fauji Fertiliser, Systems Ltd, and Pakistan Petrol­eum, which collectively acco­u­nted for a loss of 769 points.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the weaker rupee, political noise and uncertainty over the outcome of the IMF review this month amid a shortfall in tax collection targets kept investors in a panicky mood.

The trading volume plun­ged 26.08pc to 401.45 million shares while the traded value decreased 27.24pc to Rs20.35bn day-on-day.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom (26.26m shares), The Bank of Punjab (24.69m shares), Ghani Chemical (22.00m shares), Cnergyico PK (21.99m shares) and Fauji Cement (16.21m shares).

The shares registering the most significant incre­ases in their share prices in absolute terms were Uni­lever Foods (Rs77.83), Saz­gar Engineering (Rs39.19), Gadoon Textile (Rs24.80), Mitchells Fruit (Rs24.64) and Al-Abbas Sugar (Rs19.00).

The companies registering significant decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Sapphire Fibres (Rs68.45), Rafhan Maize (Rs65.30), Hoechst Pakistan (Rs61.14), Khyber Textile (Rs43.62) and Bata Pakistan (Rs40.38).

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2025