Overview
- The KSE-100 turned lower on Thursday after an early bounce, hovering near 182,500 and down about 69 points from Wednesday’s close after touching 183,717 intraday.
- On Wednesday the benchmark fell 1,381.69 points to 182,569.82, swinging between an intraday high near 184,727 and a low around 182,370 as investors locked in gains.
- Analysts attributed the weakness to profit-taking and intensifying US–Iran tensions that lifted crude price expectations and kept risk appetite subdued.
- Selling was broad across banking, cement, fertiliser, technology, power and pharma, while oil and gas names such as OGDC and Pakistan Petroleum finished higher.
- Brokerage guidance emphasized selective accumulation on dips, with Bloomberg projecting inflation nearing about 8% by 4QFY26 and the policy rate staying near 10.5%, as NCCPL recorded Rs648.2 million in foreign net selling.