PSX slumps over 5,900 points ahead of IMF review

KARACHI (Dunya News) – Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned bearish on Thursday a day after registering massive gains ahead of a visit of a team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to review implementation of the loan programme and discuss upcoming budget.

During intraday trading, the KSE-100 index plunged 5,950.83 points to reach 172,902.26 points, marking a negative change of 3.33 percent compared to previous close of 178,853.09 points.

Officials have confirmed that an IMF mission, headed by Iva Petrova, is scheduled to visit Pakistan on February 26 to assess the progress of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the $1.1 billion Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

During the nearly two-week visit, the discussions will hold significant weight, as both parties are expected to review budget proposals based on this year’s performance and outline key aspects of the upcoming budget for the fiscal year 2026-27, with a special focus on provincial financial matters.

A day earlier, the benchmark KSE-100 index turned around to bullish trend, gaining 5,702.68 points, a positive change of 3.29 percent, to close at 178,853.10 points compared to 173,150.42 points on the previous trading day, according to PSX data.

During the session, the ready market recorded a trading volume of 697.682 million shares with a traded value of Rs 49.992 billion, against 716.035 million shares valuing Rs 40.471 billion in the previous session. Market capitalization increased to Rs 20.227 trillion from Rs 19.666 trillion a day earlier.

Out of 484 active companies in the ready market, 334 advanced, 103 declined, and 47 remained unchanged.