The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) came under heavy selling pressure on Wednesday as renewed US-Iran strikes intensified concerns about potential supply disruptions and reduced hopes of an early reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index opened on a bearish note, losing more than 1,100 points during the early trading session. The decline deepened as trading continued, with the index falling to 174,701.13, down more than 1,600 points at one stage.
At around 2:20 pm, the KSE-100 was trading at 174,876.74, down 1,590.25 points, or 0.9%, from the previous close.
Selling was reported across several key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement companies, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration firms, oil marketing companies, and power generation companies.
The latest decline follows Tuesday’s weak session, when the KSE-100 Index fell 508.69 points, or 0.29%, to close at 176,466.99 amid uncertainty surrounding the US-Iran conflict and volatility in global oil prices.
The pressure on Pakistani equities came amid a broader sell-off across Asian markets. Renewed US airstrikes on Iran pushed oil prices to five-week highs and sent the US 10-year Treasury yield to its highest level in nearly three years.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan declined 2%, while South Korea’s KOSPI dropped nearly 4% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.9%.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 declined 0.7% while the Nasdaq Composite lost 1% in the previous session as higher government bond yields weighed on equities.
Oil markets remained sensitive to developments in the Middle East as investors assessed the risk of supply disruptions following the renewed strikes.
Brent crude futures were up 0.1% at $94.74 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 0.21% to $90.03 by 0805 GMT.
Earlier in the session, Brent reached $97.04 per barrel, while WTI climbed to $92.29, with both benchmarks touching their highest levels since July 24.
The combination of geopolitical uncertainty, higher oil prices and pressure on global financial markets continues to weigh on investor sentiment at the PSX.
