Pakistan’s equity market suffered a historic sell-off on Thursday, erasing the previous day’s gains as intense selling pressure pushed stocks deep into the red.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index shed a massive 6,683 points, or 3.74 percent, to close at 172,170 points. According to Topline Securities, this marks the steepest single-day decline ever recorded by the country’s main equity index.
Market conditions worsened during early trading hours, when the index briefly plunged by 7,205 points (4.02 percent) to an intraday low of 171,647 before recovering slightly by the close.
Trading activity remained heavy amid the sharp downturn, with around 229 million shares changing hands during the session. The total value of shares traded stood at approximately Rs. 22.16 billion.
Overall market breadth reflected the bearish mood. Shares of 568 companies were traded at the Pakistan Stock Exchange, of which only 32 closed higher, while 384 ended the day in negative territory. The share prices of 152 companies remained unchanged.
Volumes were led by stocks including WorldCall Telecom (WTL), K-Electric (KEL), The Bank of Punjab (BOP), Hascol Petroleum, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), and Pakistan International Bulk Terminal (PIBTL), as selling pressure dominated across key sectors.
| SCRIP | PRICE | HIGH | LOW | CHANGE | VOLUME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WTL | 1.4 | 1.57 | 1.36 | -0.15 | 84,183,811 |
| KEL | 7.85 | 8.4 | 7.65 | -0.54 | 62,013,268 |
| TSBLR1 | 0.64 | 0.99 | 0.6 | -0.54 | 45,871,527 |
| BOP | 32.77 | 35.88 | 32.2 | -3.01 | 28,791,603 |
| HASCOL | 19.74 | 21.8 | 19.58 | -2.01 | 15,749,814 |
| NBP | 260.49 | 271.0 | 257.5 | -7.15 | 13,901,568 |
| PIBTL | 18.09 | 19.99 | 17.89 | -1.79 | 13,488,641 |
