Selling pressure persisted at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding over 2,800 points on Thursday.

The index kicked off trading near the intraday high of 164,357.47.

However, selling pressure kicked in almost immediately and continued through most of the morning session, as the benchmark KSE-100 index dropped to an intraday low of 160,391.18 amid broad-based selling.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 162,994.17, down by 2,829.70 points or 1.71%.

“Rising oil prices and the SBP’s rate hike are weighing on near-term sentiment for Pakistani equities,” Waqas Ghani, Head of Research at JS Global, told Business Recorder.

“Moreover, recent geopolitical developments over the past day have also been negative.

“As these pressures, particularly on the macro and geopolitical front, begin to ease, the market is likely to stabilise and recover.”

On Wednesday, PSX came under heavy selling pressure as disappointing corporate earnings, weakness in heavyweight stocks and cautious sentiment amid rising oil prices and geopolitical concerns pushed the Index sharply lower. The benchmark KSE-100 Index plunged 2,588.35 points, or 1.54%, to close at 165,823.88 points.