KARACHI: The scrapping of a new round of talks between the US and Iran in Switzerland, coupled with unabated Israeli attacks in Lebanon, triggered profit-taking across the board as equity investors grew apprehensive about a permanent peace in the Middle East. As a result, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile session on Friday, which forced the benchmark KSE-100 index to close below the 180,000-point milestone.

Topline Securities Ltd said the index traded in a narrow range during the early hours. However, selling pressure was observed in the second half of trading on news that the US and Iran had postponed planned negotiations in Switzerland on a permanent peace agreement and nuclear programme after Israel intensified attacks in southern Lebanon.

The top negative contributors to the index were United Bank, Fauji Fertiliser, Engro Holdings, Pakistan Petroleum, Oil and Gas Development Company, Lucky Cement, Habib Bank and Systems Ltd, which together wiped out 1,273 points from the benchmark.

Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd, said PSX saw aggressive profit-taking, with the index falling 2,475.46 points, or 1.36 per cent, to close at 178,923. Investor sentiment remained cautious as market participants locked in gains, particularly in blue-chip cyclical stocks, ahead of the weekend.

On the macro front, the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) for the week ended June 18 rose by 15.28pc YoY and 0.46pc week-on-week.

Investor participation weakened over the previous day as trading volume fell 15.43pc to 1.03bn shares and traded value dipped 6.68pc to Rs53.8bn. SSGC led the volume chart with 87.3m shares traded.

Analysts believe the market could stay volatile in the short term as investors closely watch geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. However, improving macroeconomic fundamentals, a stable interest rate outlook, and expectations of decreasing energy prices continue to bolster the overall market trend.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2026