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KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) recorded a subdued performance on Monday, as investors remained uncertain about the future direction ahead of the State Bank of Pakistan’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting later in the day.
Expectations were divided on whether monetary policy would be tightened or eased amid war-related jitters and their impact on the economy, with already high fuel prices making it difficult for the industry to remain competitive.
On Friday, the government raised the ex-depot prices of petrol and diesel by Rs26.77 per litre to Rs393.35 and Rs380.19 for the week ending on May 1.
Diesel is regarded as the most inflationary commodity because of its extensive role in freight transportation.
The International Monetary Fund’s executive board is set to meet on May 8 to approve the disbursement of over $1.2 billion under two ongoing programmes.
Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd, said the PSX had a range-bound session, with the benchmark KSE-100 index declining by 1,175 points, or 0.69pc, to close at 169,497, having slipped below the 170,000-point milestone.
The market remained volatile, moving both ways, but ultimately settled lower ahead of the monetary policy announcement.
Later in the evening, after trading closed on the PSX, the State Bank of Pakistan delivered a 100-bps hike, pushing its policy rate to 11.50pc after keeping it steady at 10.5pc for over three years, citing rising inflationary risks driven by supply-side pressures amid geopolitical tensions.
United Bank, Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd, National Bank of Pakistan, Lucky Cement and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd shed 672 points, while Habib Bank, Meezan Bank, Thal Ltd, Interloop Ltd and Engro Fertiliser added 239 points collectively.
Topline Securities Ltd said the index reached an intraday high of 171,306 points and an intraday low of 169,268 points, as investor sentiment remained cautious ahead of the policy rate decision.
Investor participation weakened sharply, with total trading volume plunging 34.55pc to 780 million shares and traded value dipping 15.76pc to Rs33.3 billion. Bank of Punjab topped the volume chart with 126.6 million shares traded.
The market might face short-term pressure from the unexpected policy rate increase. Nevertheless, any market decline could be viewed as a buying opportunity, as valuations remain appealing and medium-term fundamentals remain strong.
Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2026
