The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened the new week under heavy pressure on Monday as cross-border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan rattled investor confidence, causing the benchmark KSE-100 index to tumble nearly 3,000 points in early trade.
The benchmark KSE-100 index fell sharply during opening hours, losing 2,741 points to reach 160,356, breaching key psychological barriers of 163,000, 162,000, and 161,000 points.
At 11:05 a.m., the index stood at 160,582.92, down by 2,515 points (1.54%), as widespread selling gripped nearly all major sectors.
Trading volumes remained subdued as investors rushed to offload holdings, fearing further declines amid rising political and security concerns.
Major sectors in red
Heavy selling was recorded in key segments including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration, refineries, and power generation companies.
Blue-chip stocks such as HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, HBL, and UBL traded in the red, further weighing down the benchmark index.
According to analysts, the pressure was largely driven by geopolitical developments and uncertainty over the ongoing cross-border escalation.
Investor unease deepened following the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement on Sunday, confirming that 23 Pakistani soldiers were martyred and over 200 militants killed during intense overnight clashes along the Pak-Afghan border.
According to ISPR, the fighting erupted after an unprovoked attack launched from Afghan territory by Taliban fighters and affiliated militant groups, including the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The decline follows a week of losses in which the PSX saw reduced trading activity and weak capitalisation after several weeks of gains. The KSE-100 index had already dropped 3.5% last week, closing at 163,098.19 points.
Global markets also under pressure
Asian equities mirrored the nervous sentiment, opening lower on Monday amid renewed US-China trade tensions.
A holiday in Japan and the United States contributed to choppy early trading, while US President Donald Trump’s threat of 100% tariffs on China unsettled investors despite his later conciliatory remarks.
Meanwhile, Beijing defended its export curbs on rare earth elements but refrained from imposing new levies on US goods.
Political uncertainty in Japan, following doubts over Sanae Takaichi’s ascension as Prime Minister, also hurt regional sentiment.
South Korean shares dropped 2.1%, Australian markets slipped 0.5%, and MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index outside Japan declined 0.6%.
