KARACHI: After a positive start, the concerns about Pakistan’s economic outlook and rising tensions with India prompted equity investors to engage in panic selling towards the end of the session on Monday. This bearish sentiment intensified, further driving the benchmark KSE 100 index to an intraday low of 113,867.81.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the share market fell across the board as investors weighed heightened geopolitical tensions, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty, and stalled bilateral trade by New Delhi. “Concerns over deteriorating bilateral trade and cross-border tensions were the key depressants which led to bearish close at the PSX,” he added.

Topline Securities Ltd observed that the PSX witnessed a classic tug-of-war between bulls and bears. The index opened positively, gaining momentum in the early hours to register an intraday gain of 1,189 points. However, the optimism proved short-lived, as intensified selling pressure later in the session caused the index to reverse sharply, touching an intraday loss of 1,601 points. The market eventually closed at 114,063.90 — down by 1,405.45 points or 1.22pc day-on-day.

The prevailing negative sentiment was primarily driven by escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, which heightened investor concerns and weighed heavily on overall market confidence.

On the positive side, Systems Ltd, Lucky Cement, Meezan Bank, and Habib Bank Ltd collectively contributed 489 points to the index. Conversely, most of the negative impact came from Engro Holdings, United Bank Ltd, Mari Energies, Engro Fertiliser, and PSO, which shaved off 907 points together.

Ali Najib, Head of Sales at Insight Securities, noted that sustainable positive momentum on the PSX was unlikely unless the escalation between the nuclear-armed arch-rivals eased.

Investors remained cautious, anticipating that the coming days could be crucial amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions, and this became the catalyst for the bearish sentiment at the PSX.

Market participation slowed further as the trading volume tumbled 10pc to 423.93 million shares while the traded value fell 3.11pc to Rs26.45 billion day-on-day.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2025