KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange> witnessed a sharp downturn on Thursday, reversing the previous session’s strong rally, as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of the upcoming visit of an International Monetary Fund delegation.
During intraday trading, the benchmark KSE-100 Index dropped 5,950.83 points, sliding to 172,902.26 — a decline of 3.33 percent from the last close of 178,853.09 points.
Officials confirmed that an IMF mission led by Iva Petrova is set to arrive in Pakistan on February 26. The delegation will evaluate progress under the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the $1.1 billion Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).
The two-week review is expected to carry considerable importance, as discussions will center on the country’s economic performance, budgetary targets, and key outlines of the fiscal year 2026–27 budget, particularly provincial financial arrangements.
The decline follows a robust performance a day earlier, when the KSE-100 Index surged 5,702.68 points a 3.29 percent gain to close at 178,853.10 points, compared to 173,150.42 in the preceding session.
Trading activity remained strong, with 697.682 million shares exchanged in the ready market, generating a turnover of Rs49.992 billion. In contrast, the previous session saw 716.035 million shares traded, worth Rs40.471 billion. Market capitalization had risen to Rs20.227 trillion from Rs19.666 trillion a day earlier.
Among 484 active companies, 334 posted gains, 103 registered losses, while 47 remained unchanged.
