Iran-US standoff, Venezuela situation, instability across Middle East and South Asia undermines market confidence
KARACHI:
A sharp wave of selling swept through the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday, triggering a steep corrective move as escalating geopolitical tensions drove investors into risk-off mode.
Heightened concerns over the Iran-US standoff, developments in Venezuela, and widening instability across the Middle East and South Asia undermined market confidence, sending the benchmark KSE-100 index tumbling by over 2,000 points in line with volatility across global markets.
The trading session started under heavy pressure, with aggressive selling pushing the index lower immediately after the opening bell.
Although bargain hunting sparked a temporary rebound in mid-session, lifting the index to an intra-day peak of 184,439.07, the recovery failed to gain traction.
As the day progressed, sellers regained control, steadily dragging the market down and erasing all earlier advances. The index swung within a broad range, touching an intra-day low of 182,303.56 before stabilising slightly near the close.
Ultimately, the KSE-100 index wrapped up the session at 182,384.14, registering a steep loss of 2,025.52 points, or 1.10%, on the day.
KTrade Securities observed in its market wrap that PSX witnessed a corrective session, as heightened geopolitical tensions weighed on investor sentiment. Concerns surrounding the Iran–US situation, developments in Venezuela, and broader instability across the Middle East and South Asia triggered risk-off behaviour, mirroring volatility seen across global markets.
As a result, the KSE-100 index closed at 182,384 points, down 2,025 points, as investors opted to lock in gains after the recent strong run-up. Despite the decline, activity remained elevated with KSE-100 volumes reaching 1.05 billion shares, indicating active repositioning rather than panic selling.
Selling pressure was broad-based, with profit-taking observed across key sectors including commercial banks, oil and gas, investment companies, and cements. Index-heavy names such as Systems Limited, United Bank, Meezan Bank, Engro Holdings, Fauji Fertiliser, Lucky Cement and Hub Power remained under pressure and collectively dragged the benchmark lower.
Overall, Monday’s move appeared corrective in nature rather than trend-breaking. While near-term volatility is likely to persist amid global geopolitical uncertainty, the broader market structure remained intact. Once external pressures eases and clarity emerges, the market is expected to stabilise and gradually resume its underlying upward trajectory, KTrade predicted.
Overall trading volume increased to 1.05billion compared with previous week’s close of 1.03billion. Value of traded shares stood at Rs48.2billion. Shares of 481 companies were traded. Of these 161 closed higher, 284 fell and 36 remained unchanged. Fauji Foods was the volume leader with trading in 65.7million shares, gaining Rs0.16 to close at Rs22.18.
