PSX Crashes 5,400 Points as KSE-100 Falls Below 168,000 on Feb 23
Pakistan equities experienced a sharp downturn on Monday, wiping out last week’s gains and pushing the market deeper into negative territory.
The KSE-100 Index plunged by 5,478 points, a 3.16% decline, to close at 167,691 points. Early in the session, the benchmark briefly fell by 6,283 points (3.63%) to touch a low of 166,886 points.
Trading volume remained active, with 204.7 million shares exchanging hands at a total market value of Rs. 20.6 billion. Heavyweight stocks, including Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC), Lucky Cement (LUCK), Engro Holdings (ENGROH), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), and Habib Bank Limited (HBL), were major drags, collectively shaving 1,797 points off the KSE-100.
In total, 567 companies traded shares during the session, with 42 posting gains, 389 recording losses, and 136 remaining unchanged.
Top traded volumes were led by K-Electric (KEL), which saw over 35.9 million shares traded. Other actively traded scripts included WTL, BOP, FNEL, TSBLR1, PTC, and PIBTL.
Top Volume Stocks
| Scrip | Price | High | Low | Change | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KEL | 7.66 | 8.14 | 7.57 | -0.37 | 36,062,769 |
| WTL | 1.32 | 1.43 | 1.29 | -0.06 | 33,673,161 |
| BOP | 30.19 | 33.20 | 29.74 | -2.85 | 26,673,106 |
| FNEL | 1.34 | 1.40 | 1.20 | 0.08 | 24,647,531 |
| TSBLR1 | 0.43 | 0.55 | 0.41 | -0.09 | 18,550,384 |
| PTC | 57.10 | 61.20 | 55.70 | -2.12 | 17,077,810 |
| PIBTL | 17.49 | 18.95 | 17.35 | -1.19 | 13,317,615 |
The sudden downturn underscores heightened market volatility and investor caution, with market participants closely monitoring domestic and global economic indicators for further direction.
