KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained under selling pressure as investors continued taking profits at inflated levels for the second straight session on Friday, dragging the benchmark KSE-100 index below 185,000 points, closing the weekend session on a bearish note after a record run.

Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd, said the PSX remained volatile, swinging in both directions before closing at 184,409.67, down 1,133.34 points or 0.61 per cent. Despite the decline, CY26 year-to-date gains remained strong at 5.95pc, equivalent to an increase of 10,356 points.

Market sentiment rem­ained positive in the mor­ning session; however, profit-taking and selling pressure dominated the latter half, forcing the benchmark index to close another negative for CY26.

On the macro front, rem­ittances from overseas Pakistanis rose 17pc year-on-year to $3.6bn in Dece­mber 2025, up from $3.1bn in the same month last ye­­ar, while month-on-mo­n­­th, the inflows grew 13pc.

From a sectoral perspective, S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis highlighted that smaller Pakistani banks delivered some of the strongest total returns across the Asia-Pacific region in 2025, supported by a robust equity market rally and improving macroeconomic conditions.

Amid a bearish market, investor participation also weakened as the trading volume declined 27.90pc to 1.03bn shares while the traded value plunged 42.05pc to Rs52.9bn.

According to Topline Securities Ltd, the PSX traded largely in the negative zone as investors preferred to book profits before the weekend.

The top negative contributors to the index were Hub Power, Lucky Cement, Engro Holdings, National Bank of Pakistan, Engro Fertiliser, and Oil and Gas Development Company, which collectively wiped out 596 points.

Analysts hope the market may consolidate for a few sessions within the 180,000-187,000 range amid rising geopolitical uncertainty. However, any pullback is likely to offer an opportunity to stre­ngthen positions, as the market remains fundamentally well supported.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2026