Panic selling returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday as President ​Donald Trump said the United States would continue ‌to attack Iran, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index sinking by about 5,500 points during the opening minutes of business.

At 9:35am, the benchmark index was hovering at 150,022, down by 5,489 points or 3.45%.

However, by 11:00 the equities recovered some losses and the index was trading at 151,621.26 points down by 3,890.30 or 2.57 percent.

Experts opined that the jubilation of yesterday’s market halt has been completely wiped out as the ‘ceasefire rally’ crashed into a harsh geopolitical reality.

Offloading was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation.

Index-heavy stocks, including MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, MCB, MEBL, NBP and UBL, traded in the red.

On Wednesday, the PSX had staged a powerful rally with the benchmark KSE-100 Index surging past the key psychological barrier of 150,000 points as improving investor sentiment.

The KSE-100 Index closed at 155,511.57 points, registering a sharp gain of 6,768.25 points or 4.55%.

Travel agent Lastminute.com said war in the Middle East has impacted some 17,000 bookings, while holidaymakers are shifting towards alternative destinations like the Canary Islands and Sardinia.

The website, which offers holiday packages to destinations including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, said it was having to “adapt quickly” to travellers changing their preferences in light of the conflict.

The US-Israeli war with Iran, which escalated at the end of February, led to disruption and cancellations of some flights to Gulf states including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The airspace closures, coupled with consumer sentiment when it comes to travel taking a hit, affected approximately 17,000 bookings, Lastminute revealed.

It said the total volume of affected travel around the region is currently the equivalent of about a day and a half of its normal daily operations.

Despite the conflict influencing where and when people choose to book trips, the “overall intent to travel remains high”, according to Lastminute.

Consumers have been seeking reassurance and flexibility, and early booking patters indicate a shift in the preferences of travellers.

It noted increased demand toward alternative destinations such as Spanish archipelagos the Canary and Balearic Islands, Italian islands Sicily and Sardinia, and other European city breaks.

Lastminute’s chief executive Alessandro Petazzi said: “We continue to closely monitor the evolving situation in the Middle East, with supporting our customers remaining our top priority.

“At the same time, Lastminute.com’s flexible, pan-European model enables us to adapt quickly as travel patterns evolve, with demand naturally rebalancing across destinations.”

The Netherlands-based company reported a 15% jump in revenues to 361 million euro (£315 million) for the 2025 financial year, compared with the year before.

Adjusted earnings before tax and other costs increased by a third to 55 million euro (48 million).

The company said it was remaining “vigilant” against the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, but added that it was sticking to forecasts of a roughly 10% increase in revenues and profits in the year ahead.

Oven Pride household goods group McBride has revealed “temporary” price hikes to cover increased costs from the Iran war and warned it was seeing the first signs of supply shortages caused by the conflict.

The group, which makes branded and white label household and cleaning products for the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury’s, said until now it had only seen a small impact from higher haulage costs due to fuel price rises, but said “these conditions have now started to change”.

It said the “most heavily impacted” chemical and packaging suppliers are pushing through price increases as they face rising costs for petrochemical-derived feedstocks and higher energy costs in chemical and packaging production.

“The first signs of possible shortages in supply chains around the world are beginning to emerge,” it added.

McBride said its costs are increasing this month and will rise further due to the war, and is set to lift prices to offset the hit.

“The group has already informed all customers about temporary price adjustments, or surcharges to current pricing, to recover these higher, beyond our control, cost impacts from the Middle East conflict,” McBride said.

The warnings come amid mounting worries over the impact of the conflict on supply and costs, having sent oil prices surging above 100 US dollars a barrel and causing widespread disruption to global shipping.

Supermarkets met with Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband at No 11 on Wednesday to look at issues caused by the war and agreed to explore together how to ease the cost-of-living impact for consumers.

McBride’s comments came in an update as it also announced a £34.5 million deal to buy Eurotab – a French-based specialist in cleaning tablets, such as for dishwashers.