Stocks remain range-bound, KSE-100 closes 361 points lower

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed range-bound trading for the second consecutive session on Thursday, with its benchmark KSE-100 closing the day lower by 361 points.

The KSE-100 started the session positive, hitting an intra-day high of 113,477.71.

However, the bears strengthened their grip over the market in the second half and pushed the index to an intra-day low of 112,540.12.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 112,564.08, down by 360.86 points or 0.32%.

“Investor sentiment remained mixed, While MEBL results were in line with market expectations, PSO earnings fell slightly short of industry forecasts due to weaker-than-anticipated gross margins,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.

The upward movement was primarily driven by LUCK, MCB, BAFL, NBP, and MEBL, which together added 184 points to the index. On the other hand, PPL, ENGRO, and PSO collectively reduced the index by 254 points, it added.

Meanwhile, another brokerage house Intermarket Securities said there was ample room in E&Ps and cement stocks to go higher. It added that the key milestone for the market would remain the upcoming International Monetary Fund (IMF) talks by March.

On Wednesday, the KSE-100 swayed in both directions before closing the day marginally lower by 85.44 points.

In a key development, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director (MD) of the IMF, on Tuesday on the sidelines of the World Government Summit (WGS) 2025.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) released a statement on Wednesday that the meeting focused on Pakistan’s ongoing IMF programme and the macroeconomic stability achieved through the government’s comprehensive reform agenda.

During the meeting, Georgieva commended Pakistan’s efforts in effectively implementing the IMF-supported programme, highlighting the country’s improving economic performance with rising growth and declining inflation, read the statement.

Globally, US and European stock futures rallied on Thursday on optimism over prospects of a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, offsetting a jump in Treasury yields as hot inflation threatens to close the door to any policy easing in the US this year.

Global trade war fears persisted as US President Donald Trump said he would impose reciprocal tariffs as soon as Wednesday evening on every country that charges duties on U.S. imports. Gold prices hovered not far from their record highs.

The Japanese yen was the biggest loser in the face of higher U.S. yields, while the euro has been helped by Trump’s phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy, raising hopes that the years-long war could be nearing an end.

In Asia, EUROSTOXX 50 futures climbed 1%. Nasdaq futures rose 0.4% while S&P 500 futures gained 0.2%. Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.1% while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.3%.

Chinese blue chips were flat but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and extended its bullish run, up 1% to hit another four-month high.

Overnight, data showed US consumer prices rose by the most in nearly 1-1/2 years in January.

Meanwhile, Pakistan rupee remained unchanged against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At close, the rupee settled at 279.26 against the greenback, unchanged from the previous close.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 596.74 million from 669.60 million recorded in the previous close.

However, the value of shares increased to Rs30.96 billion from Rs27.90 billion in the previous session.

B.O.Punjab was the volume leader with 79.32 million shares, followed by Lotte Chemical with 72.10 million shares, and Power Cement with 40.29 million shares.

Shares of 445 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 176 registered an increase, 211 recorded a fall, while 48 remained unchanged.