Stocks tumble amid oil price surge and inflation concerns

KARACHI: Bears firmly dominated today’s trading session as investor sentiment turned sharply negative, dragging the benchmark index deep into red territory.

The market remained under persistent selling pressure throughout the day, with the benchmark index touching an intraday low of 3,565 points before eventually closing at 170,600 level, down 3,362 points or 1.93%.

The negative momentum was primarily driven by a surge in international oil prices amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, as conflict between Israel and Lebanon escalated. Elevated oil prices revived concerns over inflation and external account pressures, dampening investor confidence and triggering broad-based selling across key sectors.

Adding to the cautious mood, Pakistan’s CPI for May 2026 clocked in at 11.66%, compared to 10.89% in the previous month, signaling a pickup in inflationary pressures and further weighing on investor sentiment.

The bearish momentum was largely fueled by heavyweight stocks, including ENGROH, FFC, LUCK, HUBC, and OGDC, which collectively shaved 1,464 points off the benchmark index, playing a key role in sustaining the market’s downward trajectory.

Market participation remained healthy, with total traded volume reaching 590 million shares, while overall turnover settled at PKR 31.98 billion. DCL emerged as the volume leader, with 43 million shares traded during the session.

More read, Pakistan stocks extend rally as KSE-100 gains 3.64% in weekly trade

Earlier, the benchmark KSE-100 Index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange posted strong gains during the week, rising 3.64% amid sustained investor interest and robust trading activity.

The KSE-100 Index advanced by 6,118 points over the course of the trading week to close at 173,962 points.

During the week, the index touched an all-week high of 174,106 points, while its lowest level was recorded at 170,161 points.

Trading activity remained healthy, with more than 1.06 billion shares changing hands in transactions valued at Rs72 billion during the week.

The overall market capitalization also increased significantly, rising by Rs549 billion to reach Rs19.166 trillion by the end of the week.

The strong weekly performance reflects continued investor confidence and positive momentum in Pakistan’s equity market, with the benchmark index remaining near record-high levels.