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KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed the final session of the week in the red on Friday, as external sector concerns and profit-taking dampened investor sentiment.
The benchmark KSE-100 index dropped by 556.16 points, or 0.32 per cent, ending at 171,404.49. The market’s performance reflected a battle between bulls and bears, with the latter prevailing as the session progressed.
This decline coincided with disappointing external sector data, which revealed a 15pc year-on-year drop in the overall exports to $2.421 billion in November. Textile exports fell by 3pc year-on-year and 12pc month-on-month. However, imports rose by 7pc compared to the previous year, though they dropped 12pc month-on-month to $5.345bn. Petroleum imports decreased by 10pc year-on-year and 8pc month-on-month to $1.266bn, as global oil prices continued to soften.
According to Topline Securities Ltd, the market remained range-bound, with the index fluctuating between an intraday high of 714 points and a low of 660 points before closing lower. The day’s positive contributions came from Lucky Cement, Systems Ltd, United Bank, Meezan Bank, and Mari Energies, adding 319 points. In contrast, Habib Bank, Maple Leaf Cement, Engro Holdings, Fauji Fertiliser, and Bank Alfalah collectively dragged the index down by 366 points.
Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd, attributed the downturn to profit-taking ahead of the roll-over week, which starts on Monday.
The day unfolded in two distinct phases. Initially, the market extended Thursday’s bullish momentum, reaching an intraday high of 172,675 points. However, in the afternoon, sentiment reversed as investors opted to lock in profits, causing the market to close lower. On the macroeconomic front, the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) saw a 3.75pc year-on-year increase, while the Large-Scale Manufacturing Index grew by 8.3pc year-on-year and 3.7pc month-on-month in October.
Corporate announcements included Lucky Cement’s decision to join a consortium for the privatisation of PIACL, and Mari Energies’ subsidiary, Mari Minerals, forming a joint venture with Globacore Minerals for mineral exploration in Balochistan.
Market activity slowed, with total trading volume falling 16.06pc to 797 million shares and the traded value dropping 21.92pc to Rs42.1 billion. K-Electric led the volume chart with over 116 million shares traded.
Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2025
