PSX: selling returns at bourse, KSE-100 down over 200 points

At the opening of trading on Friday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw selling activity, with the KSE-100 Index dropping more than 200 points. The index opened at 166,957.17, falling 236.26 points or 0.14%. This decline was observed across several key sectors, such as automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertilizers, oil and gas exploration companies, and OMCs. Large index-heavy stocks like HUBCO, MARI, PPL, MCB, MEBL, NBP, and UBL all traded in the red.

Pakistan's finance ministry forecasted inflation to sit between 9.5% and 10.5% for October 2026, driven by high energy and food prices, in line with global trends. Despite optimism about Middle East peace talks on Thursday, which boosted buying on the PSX, the KSE-100 Index rebounded by 1,456.68 points, or 0.88%, reaching 167,193.44 points.

Globally, tech shares experienced a slump in Asia, the yen strengthened, and bonds surged to their biggest monthly gain in nearly three years amid concerns that significant AI spending may not generate sufficient returns. Alphabet's Google shares fell 12.6% on Wall Street, erasing $500 billion in market value. Intel's shares dropped 23%, and Amazon's stocks declined 7%, both struggling with high cash burn rates.

The Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1.4%, while chipmakers' stocks in Asia tumbled. Nerves were also unsettled by a potentially record-breaking hack at Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, causing a dip in bitcoin and other cryptocurrency prices, including rival exchange Coinbase.

South Korea's KOSPI declined 5%, marking an October drop of over 17%, while Japan's Nikkei fell 3%. In China, the CSI300 index faced its biggest monthly decline in a decade, following several months of AI stocks suffering due to fears that a slowdown in demand for chips and data centre equipment could damage revenues.