ISLAMABAD (PEN) : The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) faced renewed selling pressure on Wednesday morning, causing the benchmark KSE-100 Index to fall by more than 400 points during early trading hours.
By 9:45 a.m., the KSE-100 Index stood at 121,561.23, down 409.81 points or 0.34%, reflecting investor caution amid global and regional uncertainties.
Sectoral Declines Lead Market Downturn
Declines were seen across several major sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banking, oil and gas exploration, oil marketing companies (OMCs), and power generation and refinery stocks. Heavyweight shares such as HUBCO, PSO, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, MCB, MEBL, and NBP predominantly traded in negative territory, contributing significantly to the overall market dip.
This downward trend follows Tuesday’s bearish session, where the KSE-100 closed lower by 254.32 points, or 0.21%, settling at 121,971.04 points amid widespread selling activity.
Global Factors Weigh on Investor Sentiment
International developments added to local market jitters. Escalating conflicts in the Middle East have unsettled global investors, pushing oil prices higher and triggering a flight to safer assets such as US Treasuries and the US dollar, while stocks experienced selling pressure worldwide.
As the Israel-Iran air conflict extended into its sixth day, concerns over possible US military escalation intensified. Former President Donald Trump publicly called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” signaling diminishing US patience.
Oil prices continued their upward momentum on Wednesday, with Brent crude futures rising 0.33% to \$76.70 per barrel and US crude increasing 0.45% to \$75.18 per barrel. Both benchmarks had surged more than 4% in the previous trading session.
The risk-averse mood also impacted Asian and European equities. MSCI’s broadest Asia-Pacific index outside Japan dropped 0.26%, while EUROSTOXX 50 futures fell by 0.4%. US stock futures showed little change following a negative close on Wall Street.
Currency markets mirrored the risk-off environment, with the US dollar reaching a one-week high of 145.445 yen and maintaining most of its gains against other major currencies. The euro struggled to recover from a 0.7% loss the previous day, last trading at \$1.1487.
