KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a historic downturn on Monday as the benchmark KSE-100 Index nosedived by 15,607 points amid escalating geopolitical tensions involving Iran, Israel, and the United States.The index plunged from its previous close of 168,062.16 points, marking a sharp decline of 8.97 percent.
During intraday trading, the market briefly recovered by 2,944 points to reach 155,935.41; however, heavy selling pressure dominated the session.To curb further losses and stabilize market sentiment, trading was suspended for one hour.Global oil markets also reacted strongly to the mounting tensions. Brent crude prices surged nearly 10 percent on Sunday, touching $80 per barrel. Analysts cautioned that prices could climb to $100 per barrel following reported US and Israeli strikes on Iran. The benchmark had already risen to $73 per barrel on Friday — its highest level since July.Market analysts attributed the steep decline at the PSX to growing geopolitical uncertainty and rapidly rising oil prices, which triggered widespread investor panic and resulted in one of the largest single-day drops in the exchange’s history.
