Selling continues, KSE-100 down nearly 3,000 points in early trade

Selling pressure persisted at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding nearly 3,000 points during the opening minutes of trading on Thursday. At 9:45am, the benchmark index was hovering at 162,883.34, down by 2,940.53 points or 1.77%. Selling was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, MCB, MEBL and UBL, traded in the red. On Wednesday, PSX came under heavy selling pressure as disappointing corporate earnings, weakness in heavyweight stocks and cautious sentiment amid rising oil prices and geopolitical concerns pushed the Index sharply lower. The benchmark KSE-100 Index plunged 2,588.35 points, or 1.54%, to close at 165,823.88 points. Internationally, AI-related shares fared well in Asia on Thursday after a raft of generally positive ‌earnings reports, while surging oil prices left bonds battered as central banks turned more hawkish on inflation and interest rates.