PSX plunges over 4,200 points amid rising Pakistan-India tensions

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened in the red on Wednesday, the third trading day of the week, as the benchmark KSE-100 index saw a steep decline in early trading, reacting to growing tensions between Pakistan and India.

The market downturn followed a statement by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar early Wednesday morning, who said “credible intelligence” reports suggested India was planning a military action against Pakistan within the next 24 to 36 hours. His remarks came in the wake of the Pahalgam attack in occupied Kashmir last week, which New Delhi blamed on Islamabad without offering any evidence.

Right after the market opened, the KSE-100 index slipped by over 800 points, reaching 114,066.12 around 9:30 AM, with a volume of 456,750 shares. The downward trend quickly accelerated, and by 9:46 AM the index had fallen by 1,792.51 points to 113,079.67, with volume rising to 12.16 million shares. The steepest drop was recorded around 10:46 AM, when the market plunged by 2,565.71 points to 112,306.47, with trading volume increasing to 57.62 million shares.

By 11:00 AM, the benchmark index showed a slight recovery but remained down by 2.04 per cent or 2,345.26 points, hovering at 112,526.92. Despite the losses, the index at this level was still up 58.26 per cent in year-to-date (YTD) terms. However, as the losses deepened, the YTD growth narrowed to 2.26 per cent. So far this year, the market has traded between a low of 70,562.12 and a high of 120,796.67.

In percentage terms, among the overall top performers still trading in the green were Chenab Limited (Pref) (CLCPS), which rose by 14.73 per cent or Rs0.38 to Rs2.96; Gulistan Spinning Mills Limited (GUSM), which gained 12.65 per cent or Rs0.87 to Rs7.75; and PICIC Insurance Limited (PIL), which was up by 9.03 per cent or Rs0.29 to Rs3.50.

On the losing side, Dewan Mushtaq Textile Mills Limited (DMTM) declined by 13.10 per cent or Rs0.92 to Rs6.10, Tariq Corporation Limited (TCORPCPS) fell by 12.69 per cent or Rs1 to Rs6.88, while Burj Clean Energy Modaraba (GEMBCEM) was down by 12.50 per cent or Rs1 to Rs7.

Among the top losers in price terms from the KSE-100 index companies, Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited (UPFL) dropped by 0.86 per cent or Rs199 to Rs22,901, Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited (RMPL) declined by 1.27 per cent or Rs115.23 to Rs8,920, and Sazgar Engineering Works Limited (SAZEW) shed 2.23 per cent or Rs29.33 to Rs1,287.

Around 11:26 AM, the PSX suffered another sharp decline, falling by 3,679 points to 111,192.92, with the trading volume at 86,762,030 shares.

By around 2:30 PM, the PSX had fallen further, losing 4,240.34 points to reach 110,631.84, with the trading volume at 162,662,563 shares.

Previous session

The KSE-100 index had ended Tuesday’s session at 114,872.18, posting a gain of 808.28 points or 0.71 per cent. The index traded within a range of 2,105.02 points during the session, reaching an intraday high of 115,040.58 and a low of 112,935.56. Total traded volume stood at 185.49 million shares.