Panic selling sets in Pakistan after a brief reprieve. Pakistan’s stock market slipped into the red during intraday trading, with its benchmark KSE-100 index plunging 7%, marking the second consecutive day of heavy losses following Indian military strikes on terrorist outfits under ‘Operation Sindoor’.
The KSE-100 index also took a massive hit, crashing over 7%, shedding over 6,000 points in the afternoon. Initially, the markets had traded in the green during the morning session but turned sharply red as intraday trading progressed.
Today, in the early morning trading the Karachi Stock Exchange bounced back, with the benchmark KSE-100 index climbing 1.7%, a recovery of 1,850 points.
Comeback after chaos?
Wednesday was nothing short of a market meltdown. The KSE-100 nosedived nearly 6%. It was its worst single-day fall since 2021. The drop was driven by escalating tensions with India and the execution of ‘Operation Sindoor’, a military response to the Pahalgam attack that took the lives of 26 people.
But on Thursday, sentiment flipped. The index opened in green at 111,530. At the time of writing, the KSE-100 was still in the green, up 0.26%.
What stocks are leading
Sectors like automobiles, cement, banking, fertiliser, oil & gas, and power saw buying interest.
Until recently, Pakistan’s equity market was flying high. The KSE-100 had risen over 86% in 2024, marking one of its strongest runs in decades. But the past ten sessions have erased a good chunk of that gain, the market lost 4.1% over nine sessions due to fear of cross-border conflict.
April too was harsh. The KSE-100 dropped over 6%, making it the worst monthly performance since August 2023.
Despite Thursday’s recovery, the KSE-100 is still down nearly 1% year-to-date.