KARACHI: After staging a spectacular recovery rally overnight, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) came under strong profit-taking pressure on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index closing in negative territory.
Topline Securities Ltd said the PSX witnessed a volatile trading session, with the benchmark index fluctuating throughout the day. The KSE-100 opened on a positive note and climbed to an intraday high of 860 points at 179,123.01 as early buying interest kept sentiment upbeat.
However, investors opted to lock in recent gains during the latter half of the session, triggering widespread profit-taking.
As a result, the index wiped out its gains, fell to an intraday low of 827 points at 177,434.96 and eventually settled at 177,623.88, down 638.45 points, or 0.36 per cent.
Profit-taking drags index into negative territory
The refinery sector remained in the spotlight after reports suggested that the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) had approved amendments to the Pakistan Oil Refining Policy 2023, removing the remaining hurdles that had delayed the execution of refinery upgrade agreements since the policy was first notified in August 2023.
The development sparked strong buying interest across the sector, with Attock Refinery, Pakistan Refinery, National Refinery and Cnergyico PK all ending the session higher, outperforming the broader market.
On the other hand, United Bank, Oil and Gas Development Company, Hub Power, Pakistan Petroleum and Bank of Punjab weighed heavily on the benchmark index, collectively shaving around 318 points off its gains.
Market activity moderated from the previous session, with traded volume declining 7.8pc to 958 million shares, while the value of shares traded amounted to Rs41.5 billion. Cnergyico PK topped the volume chart, with nearly 273 million shares changing hands.
According to Arif Habib Ltd, the market turned bearish as investors resorted to profit-taking.
However, in early trading sentiments remained bullish as the United States and Iran extended their pause in hostilities, with attention shifting to talks involving Tehran and Oman on resuming traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Pakistan and China strengthened their economic partnership by signing investment and commercial agreements worth around $1.4bn at the Pakistan-China Business Conference, paving the way for greater industrial collaboration, technology transfer and local manufacturing.
Analysts said that after a period of consolidation, the 180,000 level remained the KSE-100 index’s near-term target.
Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2026
