Selling pressure continued unabated at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding over 1,700 points during the opening hours of trading on Tuesday.
At 9:30am, the benchmark index was hovering at 165,939.21, a decrease of 1,751.87 points or 1.04%.
Selling was observed in key sectors, including cement, chemical, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, PPL, SSGC, SNGPL, MEBL, UBL and NBP, traded in the red.
“Even though some geopolitical tensions have eased, risk appetite remains fragile,” Waqas Ghani, Head of Research at JS Global, told media.
“Markets are still pricing uncertainty, as investors don’t wait for inflation prints, trade disruptions, or macro data to confirm the damage, they sell first on heightened geopolitical risk, uncertainty, and risk-off flows,” he added.
On Monday, PSX suffered another dramatic sell-off as panic-driven liquidation gripped the market, triggered by escalating geopolitical tensions, uncertainty surrounding the upcoming IMF review, and cautious expectations from the ongoing corporate earnings season. The benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at 167,691.08 points, shedding 5,478.63 points or 3.16%.
Internationally, Asian stock markets stuttered in early trade on Tuesday as a selloff on Wall Street overnight rattled investors, with sentiment hurt by heightened uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s tariff policy and rising geopolitical tensions.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan flipped from gains to losses following a six-day rally, and was last down 0.2%, led by declines in South Korea.
The Nikkei 225 advanced 0.7% as Japanese markets returned after a holiday.
S&P 500 e-mini futures were up 0.1%.
On Monday, Trump warned countries against backing away from recently negotiated trade deals with the U.S. after the Supreme Court struck down his emergency tariffs, saying that he would hit them with much higher duties under different trade laws.
The new tariffs are based on Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, causing further confusion in markets trying to come to grips with U.S. protectionist policies.
This is an intra-day update
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