PSX shares are down 1,300 points, indicating bearish momentum.

As shares fell 1,300 points during intraday trading on Thursday, bears seized over the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) trading floor.

At 12:17 p.m., the benchmark KSE-100 index was down 1,365.18 points, or 1.21 percent, from its previous closing of 112,414.80 to 111,049.62 points.

Following a reported airstrike by Pakistan on terrorist sites in the neighboring country, Yousuf M. Farooq, director of research at Chase Securities, ascribed the decrease to worsening relations with Afghanistan, which he said were being debated by investors today.

On a bright side, he continued, “Market trailing earnings yields continue to be above the long-term average, suggesting the possibility of above-average long-term returns for investors.”

“After a notable rally over the past year, political noise is influencing the market’s direction in the short term,” he emphasized.

Mohammed Sohail, the CEO of Topline Securities, attributed the market’s negative trend to “rising leverage and ending the December contract.”

He added, “Sentiments are being impacted by the continuous security situation at the borders.”

The impetus was attributed to the “realignment of portfolios at the year-end and last week of rollovers of future contracts,” according to Awais Ashraf, director of research at AKD Securities.

“Most weighted stocks are under pressure from concerns about the unification of gas prices, while some stocks are overpriced,” he said, adding that he thought “falling interest rates and lower returns of alternative investments would keep the equities in limelight.”

“We anticipate that monetary easing, structural reforms, and falling commodity prices will benefit E&P, fertilizer, cement, OMCs [oil marketing companies], automobiles, textiles, and technology,” he advised investors.

Following a brutal carnage in the previous week, the stock market saw two consecutive rebound sessions before the bears drove the bulls out once more yesterday, resulting in investors suffering an incredible loss of Rs 690 billion in a single day.

The market decline was ascribed by analysts to profit-taking that occurred in the midst of pressure on the rollover of future contracts and uncertainty regarding the outcome of the reconciliation negotiations between the government and the PTI.

Bearish action at PSX was also fueled by the weak rupee, declining global crude oil prices, and institutional selling in overbought scrips.