Pakistan, May 20 -- The Pakistan Stock Exchange saw a sharp decline on Tuesday, with the KSE-100 Index dropping by 718.51 points to close at 118,971.12. This fall of 0.6% came as investors grew more cautious ahead of the upcoming federal budget. Many fear that tough reforms linked to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may be included.

This downturn followed Monday's flat session, where the market reached an all-time intraday high of 120,285.55. However, it ended the day with a modest 40-point gain. That brief high was followed by selling pressure, indicating that traders were already uncertain about the market's next direction.

Most of Tuesday's losses came from large-cap sectors. Banking, oil, gas, and automobile companies led the d...