Overview
- Stocks fell 0.39% on Friday to 163,806, with MARI, UBL, HBL, POL and Engro weighing on the index as turnover reached 1.98 billion shares worth Rs36.99 billion.
- Thursday’s session reversed sharply from early gains to a 1,241-point loss to 164,445, while the PSX logged a record 3.08 billion shares in a single day and K-Electric traded an unprecedented 1.02 billion shares.
- Brokers cited profit-taking and institutional portfolio rebalancing as key drivers of the late-session sell-offs, while foreign investors were net sellers over the week, including Rs1.6b on Oct 15, Rs1.1b on Oct 16 and Rs535.5m on Oct 17.
- Earlier optimism followed an IMF staff-level agreement and reports of a 48-hour Pakistan–Afghanistan ceasefire, yet price pressures persisted with the weekly SPI up 4.57% year-on-year and 0.49% week-on-week.
- Positioning stayed cautious into next week as surveys pointed to an SBP rate hold at 11% on Oct 27, even as the KSE-100 still gained 708 points (+0.43%) for the week within a wide 157,678–167,562 range.