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PSX plummets over 2,000 points as panic selling hits on geopolitical fears | The Express Tribune
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.
Brent crude sinks by a tenth after Iran says the key waterway is open for commercial ships for the rest of the ceasefire.
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Oil prices tumbled on Friday after Iranian officials said they would allow commercial traffic to resume in the Strait of Hormuz. This lifted equity markets in Europe and New York, where major indices hit new records.
Citing the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would lift its blockade on shipping through the key Gulf energy trade route.
“In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire,” Araghchi said.
Traffic in the strategic waterway, through which one-fifth of the world’s crude oil normally flows, has been disrupted by Iran since the US-Israeli offensive began on Feb. 28. At one point, this sent oil prices to a peak of nearly $120 a barrel and roiled the global economy.
Both Brent, the benchmark international contract, and its US equivalent WTI fell below $90 per barrel following Tehran’s announcement. Brent later cut its losses and finished at $90.38 a barrel, down 9.1%.
‘Immediate impact’
“This news is having an immediate impact on markets,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
The move also sent a jolt through equity markets, extending a rally in New York. There, equities have pushed ever higher since late March in anticipation of a breakthrough in the Middle East crisis.
“We had seen a big move the last two weeks, and now it’s just really pricing completely out the worst-case scenario, said Angelo Kourkafas, from Edward Jones.
Kourkafas also pointed to underlying strength in the US economy that should get more attention in the coming period as geopolitical concerns ebb.
“Geopolitical developments are moving in the right direction, and at the same time, the earning strength is hard to ignore,” Kourkafas said.
The broad-based S&P 500 finished at 7,126.06, up 1.2% for the day and 4.5% for the week.
‘Good news’
Earlier, European stocks closed higher, with both Frankfurt and Paris gaining 2%.
US President Donald Trump cheered the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in an interview with AFP.
“We’re very close to having a deal,” Trump said in a brief telephone call with AFP from Las Vegas. He added there were “no sticking points at all” left with Tehran.
But Iran quickly pushed back on one key point.
Iran’s foreign ministry said Friday that its stockpile of enriched uranium would not be transferred “anywhere.” It rejected an earlier claim by Trump that the Islamic Republic had agreed to hand it over.
Shipping industry figures, meanwhile, gave a cautious welcome to Iran’s announcement.
A spokesman for German transportation giant Hapag-Lloyd, which has ships stuck in the Gulf, told AFP by phone that the reopening was “in general… good news.”
But he cautioned that shippers still needed details of what route vessels could take and in what order, citing fears of mines.
“One thousand ships cannot just go now to the entrance of the strait, that will be chaos. They (the Iranians) need to give clear orders,” said the spokesman, Nils Haupt.
“We would be ready to go very soon if some of these open questions can be solved within the weekend.”
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