After witnessing a worse decline of over 6,500 points in the early minutes of trading on Wednesday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) made a comeback with the benchmark KSE-100 recovering a large portion of its losses.
However, the market lost a lot of its recovery near the closing bell, closing at 110,009.02 points, 3,559.48 points lower than the previous close marking a decline of 3.13% throughout the day.
The selling pressure was mainly due to heightened tensions between Pakistan and India and tit for tat measures against each other last night. However, by 10:30 am, the benchmark index recovered sharply and reached 112,403.94 points, still down by 1,204.19 points.
By 12:00 pm, the PSX was trading at 111,121.24 points, down by 2,447.26 points, or 2.15%, from the previous close.
The sell-off was widespread, with major sectors, including commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation, and refineries, all facing heavy losses. Key stocks, such as OGDC, PPL, POL, HUBCO, SNGPL, and SSGC, also traded in the red.
The dramatic market movement came as military tensions between Pakistan and India flared. At least 26 Pakistanis were reported martyred, and 46 others injured in Indian missile strikes targeting multiple locations in Pakistan, including Bahawalpur, Kotli, and Muzaffarabad, as confirmed by the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry in a late-night presser.
In response, the Pakistan military shot down five Indian Air Force jets, as announced by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif.
The violence, which has led to the most severe clashes in years, has further heightened investor uncertainty, contributing to the market’s steep decline.
The situation also caught the attention of global leaders, with US President Donald Trump calling the Indian strikes a “shame” during a press conference.
The KSE-100 Index closed lower by 534 points on Tuesday, settling at 113,568.51. This loss wiped out nearly 1,000 points that had been gained during the day’s earlier trading session.
Meanwhile, global markets reacted positively to trade developments between the US and China, with US stock futures and Chinese markets rising. S&P 500 futures gained about 0.9%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index increased by 1.7%.
The Chinese government also announced measures to support financial markets, including a 10 basis point cut in its benchmark interest rate and a reduction in bank reserve requirements, signaling coordinated efforts to stabilize the economy.
