Massive selling pressure was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) after the US and Iran failed to reach an agreement during their crucial talks in Islamabad. The benchmark KSE-100 Index shed over 5,300 points during trading on Monday.
At 1:40pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 161,867.51, down by 5,323.86 points or 3.18%.
“The market landscape has shifted drastically this morning,” said Behtari Capital on Monday.
“We are currently witnessing a flight to safety. In this high-volatility environment, cash is king. Until there is more clarity on the actual impact of the US blockade tonight, avoid catching a falling knife.”
Selling was observed in key sectors, including automobiles, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation, and refineries. Index-heavy stocks, including ARL, HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, SSGC, SNGPL and WAFI, traded in the red.
US Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that his negotiating team was leaving Pakistan after not reaching a deal with Iran after 21 hours of negotiations.
Vance cited shortcomings in the talks and said Iran had chosen not to accept American terms, including not to build nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said that no agreement was expected in a single round of negotiations with the United States, as he underscored a persistent trust deficit following the latest indirect talks facilitated by Pakistan.
During the previous week, the PS closed higher as improving investor sentiment, driven by optimism surrounding ongoing US–Iran talks, supported broad-based buying across key sectors. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 1,673.87 points or 1.01% to close at 167,191.38 points.
Globally, oil and the dollar jumped on Monday as the failure of US-Iran talks to yield an agreement left a fragile ceasefire hanging in the balance and no end to a choke on Middle East energy exports.
S&P 500 futures dropped 1% in early trade. Benchmark Brent crude futures surged 8% to $103 a barrel. The euro fell about 0.5% to $1.1672.
Moves in Asian stock markets were broadly lower but relatively modest, with investors reluctant to make big bets as they waited for signs of some form of a negotiated end to a six-week conflict that has already pushed oil prices more than 30% higher.
Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.4%, South Korea’s KOSPI slumped 1.4% and the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.6%.
Marathon talks in Islamabad ended in stalemate and with the U.S. announcing a blockade of Iranian ports, seemingly aimed at stopping Iran exporting oil or levying tolls to transit the narrow Strait of Hormuz, the choke point of the Persian Gulf.
The Wall Street Journal reported Trump and his advisers were weighing limited strikes on Iran, though there were no immediate reports of attacks in early Asian trading to shatter a fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire that has largely held since last week.
This is an intra-day update
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