The Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed a choppy session on Friday as investor confidence weakened due to escalating tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The benchmark KSE-100 Index fell by 830.92 points, or 0.49%, closing at 168,062.16 and ending the week more than 800 points lower.
The market opened sharply in the red, plunging over 3,000 points to an intraday low of 165,811.87 amid heavy selling. Analysts at Topline Securities attributed the early decline to regional tensions following Pakistan’s reported strikes on Afghan Taliban military targets in Kabul. However, some recovery was seen later in the day after no immediate retaliation from Afghanistan was reported. Despite this, the index slipped back into negative territory during the final trading hours.
Major stocks including UBL, FFC, OGDC, PPL, and MCB weighed heavily on the index. Trading activity also slowed, with volumes dropping to 536 million shares and total value declining to Rs25.54 billion.
During the month, the KSE-100 has lost over 16,000 points, reflecting weak sentiment driven by geopolitical concerns, foreign outflows, softer corporate earnings, and uncertainty around key projects.
Globally, Asian markets also remained subdued, while the Pakistani rupee posted a marginal gain against the US dollar in interbank trading.
