Stocks tumble as regional conflict dampens investor confidence

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) came under heavy selling pressure on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index falling more than 1,800 points as continued escalation between the United States and Iran weakened investor sentiment.

According to the PSX website, the market opened lower, with the index dropping around 500 points in early trading before losses deepened during the session. The KSE-100 fell to an intraday low of 174,205.04 at around 1:20 pm.

Selling was recorded across major sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, fertiliser, oil marketing companies and power generation.

At 2:26 pm, the KSE-100 was trading at 174,874.01, down 1,259.55 points, or 0.72%, from the previous close. 

The decline came as investors remained cautious over the regional conflict and its possible economic impact.

In a separate development, Pakistan has sought a $10 billion exchange stabilisation facility from the United States, according to Reuters. The request follows Pakistan’s role in facilitating talks over the Iran war, which raised expectations that Islamabad could seek economic support from Washington and other partners.

On Tuesday, the KSE-100 gained 205.83 points, or 0.12%, to settle at 176,133.57, mainly due to rising hopes of an easing in the Middle East.

Global stocks made lumpy gains on ​Wednesday as the boost from a strong Wall Street session was capped by caution ahead of earnings reports from Big ‌Tech while threats from Houthi rebels to expand the Middle East conflict pushed up oil prices.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2% as South Korea's Kospi trimmed gains to 1.5%, well off an earlier advance of more than 6%.

Japan's Nikkei 225 flitted between gains and losses, while S&P 500 e-mini futures slipped ​0.2% alongside a 1.2% decline for stocks in Hong Kong.

Brent crude rose 1.3% to $92.22 a barrel after two oil tankers carrying ​Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea on Tuesday following threats of attack from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was down 0.5% at $66,077.16, while ether was flat at $1,923.25.