Selling pressure gripped the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding nearly 6,500 points — the largest single-day decline in terms of points — amid rising geopolitical tensions.
The benchmark KSE-100 index plunged by 6,482.21 points, or 5.89%, to stand at 103,526.81.
Trading was earlier halted at the PSX for an hour after the benchmark index plummeted by nearly 7,000 points, triggering the suspension, only to drop another 1,400 points when trading resumed, hitting an intra-day low of 101,598.90.
“If tensions escalate further than selling pressure will persist until clarity is achieved,” Sana Tawfik, Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited, told Business Recorder.
Across-the-board selling was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, ARL, MARI, OGDC, POL, PSO, SSGC, NBP, and UBL, traded in red.
The decline comes amid an escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan.
At least one person died on Wednesday night after the Pakistan Army shot down an Indian drone following unprovoked airstrikes by New Delhi.
“India last night took yet another blatant military act of aggression against Pakistan by sending Herap drones at multiple locations,” Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in his latest press conference on Thursday.
The heaviest fighting in more than two decades has erupted between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, with shelling and gunfire over the frontier in Kashmir and India striking targets inside Pakistan.
At least 31 Pakistanis were martyred and dozens were injured in Indian missile attacks inside Pakistan, DG ISPR said on Wednesday.
In retaliation, the Pakistan military brought down five Indian Air Force jets, including three Rafale, one MiG-21, and one SU-30, following Indian missile attacks.
On Wednesday, the PSX’s benchmark KSE-100 Index recovered a portion of its losses, but still settled with a loss of over 3,500 points at 110,009.02.
Internationally, shares in Asia firmed on Thursday after US President Donald Trump flagged a first trade deal in his global tariff war, while the dollar tried to hold overnight gains as markets pushed out the chance of near-term rate cuts.
S&P 500 futures erased earlier losses to be up 0.5% while Nasdaq futures rose 0.7%. The pan-European STOXX 600 index climbed 0.7% and FTSE futures gained 0.5%.
Trump said late on Wednesday that he would announce details about a major trade deal with an unspecified country at a press conference later in the day. The New York Times reported that the deal was with Britain.
The president’s comments came as investors anxiously await planned trade talks between Washington and Beijing on Saturday, which could mark the first step in resolving a potentially damaging trade war between the world’s top two economies.
Markets are also keeping their eyes peeled on the Bank of England’s policy meeting later in the day where expectations are for a quarter-point rate cut. Additionally, central banks in Sweden and Norway are due to deliver their latest policy decisions, although no moves are expected.
Overnight, in a widely expected decision, the Federal Reserve left policy rate in the 4.25%-4.5% range, but said the risks of higher inflation and unemployment had risen. Chair Jerome Powell said it isn’t clear if the economy will continue its steady pace of growth, or wilt under mounting uncertainty and a possible coming spike in inflation.
