The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) endured a sharp bearish session on Friday, as the benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 179,603.73, down 908.91 points or approximately 0.50% from the previous day's close. 

This decline extended a two-day correction, with cumulative losses exceeding 3,400 points over the period amid persistent selling pressure across major sectors.

Trading commenced on a volatile note, with the index dipping sharply intraday to as low as around 178,237 before partial recovery in late sessions. Heavy offloading was evident in banking, fertiliser, energy (including oil & gas exploration and marketing companies), cement, and power generation stocks.

Market turnover remained robust, with over 708 million shares traded valued at nearly Rs39 billion, indicating active participation despite the downturn. 

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Analysts attributed the sell-off to profit-taking after the index's strong run-up earlier in 2026 (peaking near 191,000 in January), coupled with concerns over overvaluation in select counters and potential retail outflows if corrections deepen.

Topline market review stated that continuing its negative momentum, KSE-100 Index largely traded in the negative zone during the trading session to settle at 179,604 level (down by -0.50%). This negativity in the market can be attributed to ongoing results sessions, where corporate results have fallen short of investors' expectations. 

The top negative contribution to the index came from LUCK, UBL, OGDC, SYS, EFERT and ENGROH, as they cumulatively weighed down on the index by -685 points.

Traded value-wise, OGDC (Rs4.1b), PPL (Rs3b), NBP (Rs2.7b), LUCK (Rs1.87b), ENGROH (Rs1.7b) and SYS (Rs1.55b) dominated the trading activity. Traded volume and value for the day stood at 706mn shares and USD.38.8mn, respectively.