Overview
- The KSE-100 fell 718.25 points to 171,021.20 in trading recorded on Friday, extending a roughly 10% decline from its July peak and pushing the index toward its 200-day moving average.
- Trading activity rose on the session with 579.945 million shares changing hands and Rs23.896 billion in value, while market breadth was negative with 270 decliners and 186 advancers.
- Foreign investors were net sellers of about Rs115 million, the National Clearing Company reported, and large banks and select corporates including UBL, NBP, Systems Ltd, HBL and Fauji Fertiliser were the biggest drags on the index.
- Analysts and brokerages linked the sell-off to renewed US–Iran tensions that lifted crude toward $100 per barrel, a shock that raises costs for oil‑importing Pakistan and strains inflation and the trade balance.
- Market participants are now watching next week's State Bank Monetary Policy Committee meeting and a slate of corporate earnings as the likely triggers that will determine whether technical support holds or the decline deepens.