PSX drops over 1,500 points as selling pressure hits market

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) faced heavy selling pressure on Thursday, causing the KSE-100 Index to drop over 1,500 points. The benchmark index closed at 152,740.37, down 1,551.88 points (1.01%).

Selling was seen across major sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration, oil marketing, power generation, and refining. Big companies like ARL, HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, HBL, MCB, MEBL, and NBP all ended the day lower.

This comes after a strong rebound on Wednesday, when the KSE-100 Index had surged 4,276.09 points (2.85%) to 154,292.26 due to softer global oil prices and renewed buying interest.

However, oil prices rose again on Thursday. Brent crude increased by $4.66 (4.3%) to $112.04 per barrel, after earlier rising over $5 to $112.86 per barrel. The rise came after Iran attacked energy facilities across the Middle East following a strike on the South Pars gas field, escalating tensions with the United States and Israel.