- The index affected an intraday summit of 118,811 and a minimum of 117,120.
- The economy services traders remained cautious throughout the session.
- The topline report attributes the inversion of regional geopolitical tensions.
The actions withdrew on Wednesday, slamming a sequence of four -day victories, while the feeling of investors took a blow according to the economic projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Fitch Ratings.
The KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended at 117,226.14, down 1,204.21 points or 1.02% compared to the previous fence of 118,430.35. The index affected an intraday summit of 118,811,24 and a minimum of 117,120.39.
The negotiation volumes amounted to 242.5 million shares, the total value of the negotiated shares recorded at 18.6 billion rupees.
Merchants walked on egg shells throughout the session, alarmed by the country’s economic prospects as well as the possibility of additional pressure on money.
Topline SECURITIES, a brokerage house, said in a note that after four consecutive sessions of Haussier Élan, Bears made an energetic return to the local scholarship today.
“This feeling of feeling can be widely attributed to the escalation of regional geopolitical tensions, which prompted investors to adopt a careful position and locking in recent gains,” said brokerage.
The downward trajectory of the index was significantly influenced by the negative contributions of key actions, notably United Bank Limited (UBL), Hub Power Company (HUBC), Habib Metro Bank (HMB), Mari Petroleum Company (Mari) and Engro Corporation Limited (Engro), which collectively resulted in the drop in 526 points.
Despite the decline, the participation of investors has remained robust, the total negotiated volume reaching 604 million shares and market turnover amounting to 27.7 billion rupees. The Punjab bank (BOP) led the volume table, with 58 million actions changing hands.
In its last global economic perspectives, the IMF has lowered Pakistan’s growth forecasts for the current financial year to 3% to 2.6%, citing a more slow than expected recovery.
Adding to the prudent mood, Fitch Ratings said that Pakistan is likely to let the roupine gradually weaken to facilitate pressure on the current account as economic activity increases, according to Bloomberg.
The revised forecasts of the IMF follow new US tariff increases up to 29% by US President Donald Trump, who led the IMF to reduce growth estimates for several development economies.
The report, however, noted that Pakistan GDP growth for the next financial year (2025-2026) is expected to reach 3.6%.
Inflation in Pakistan, which amounted to 23.4% in 2024, is scheduled for 5.1% for the current financial year, the IMF providing more at 7.7% in the next fiscal year.
The IMF has also revised its forecasts for the deficit in the current account of Pakistan. It now expects the deficit to amount to 0.1% of GDP, compared to its previous estimate of 1%. In nominal terms, the current account difference should be only $ 400 million, instead of the previously projected $ 3.7 billion.
For 2026, the lender expects the current account deficit to increase even to 0.4% of GDP.
Bloomberg, citing Krisjanis Kustins, director of sovereign notes of Asia-Pacific in Fitch, said: “The rating company sees the rupee falling at 285 against the dollar at the end of June and weakening more at 295 at the end of the next exercise in 2026.”
A drop in rupees to RS285 per US dollar in two months would mean a decrease of 1.5% compared to the current interbank rate of RS280.76. If it fell more at RS295 by June 2026, it would be a depreciation of 5% compared to the rate of today.
“The central bank of Pakistan will allow the roupie to gradually weaken to manage pressures on the current account as the economy wins the pace,” added the Bloomberg ratio.