Pakistan’s stock market suffered due to rising tensions with India as the benchmark KSE-100 shed over 6,480 points during April, said Arif Habib Limited (AHL), a brokerage house, in its latest report.
“In Apr’25, the KSE-100 index posted a mixed, though ultimately negative, performance amid heightened volatility fueled by both external and domestic factors,” said AHL.
The brokerage house noted that global trade concerns escalated after the US imposed reciprocal tariffs on 60 countries, most prominently targeting China.
“However, some relief followed as the US later announced a 90-day pause on tariffs above 10% for most countries. Meanwhile, regional sentiment was further weighed down by renewed geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan,” the report added.
The benchmark index closed at 111,327 points on Wednesday, registering a 5.5% decline on a monthly basis, “reflecting cautious investor sentiment despite improving macroeconomic signals,” AHL said.
Tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours have reignited after 26 people were killed and 17 were injured when gunmen opened fire at tourists in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) last week. India blames Pakistan for the attack, while Islamabad denies any involvement.
The attack took place in a meadow in the Pahalgam area, and the dead included 25 Indians and one Nepalese national.
The incident led to a rise in tensions between Pakistan and India, followed by New Delhi suspending the Indus Waters Treaty and Islamabad closing airspace for Indian flights.
Earlier on Wednesday, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar warned of a likely military strike by India on Pakistan in the next 24 to 36 hours.
“Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends to launch a military strike within the next 24 to 36 hours using the Pahalgam incident as a false pretext,” the minister said in a press conference as well as in a post on X.
Meanwhile, AHL in its report highlighted several positive indicators during April that helped limit downside pressure.
“Inflationary pressures continued to ease, with CPI for Mar’25 dropping to just 0.7%, the lowest level in nearly six decades.
“Optimism grew as Pakistan hosted a mineral mining conference during the month,” whereas investor sentiment received a strong boost from the record current account surplus of $1.2 billion in March, it said.
“However, this was tempered by a dip in SBP reserves, which declined by 4.1% MoM to $10.2 billion by the end of April.”
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