By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Pakistan’s stock market cratered on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index plunging nearly 3,900 points as escalating tensions between the US and Iran rattled global markets.
The benchmark slumped 3.21% to close at 116,167.47—its lowest level since May 9, 2025, after touching an intraday low of 115,887.49. The selloff erased last week’s gains, when the index had already slid 1.7% amid rising geopolitical risks.
The downturn spared few corners of the market, with heavy selling battering stocks in automobiles, energy, power generation, refining, and banking. Index heavyweights including Hub Power Co. (HUBCO), Oil & Gas Development Co. (OGDC), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd. (PPL), Pakistan Oilfields Ltd. (POL), Mari Petroleum Co. (MARI), Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Engro Corp. (ENGRO), and Lucky Cement (LUCK) dragged the KSE-100 lower. Topline Securities noted that the latter five alone accounted for a 1,054-point drop.
The decline reflected mounting investor unease over the US-Iran conflict. “Markets are stressed due to the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel,” said Ahfaz Mustafa, CEO of Ismail Iqbal Securities. “This has caused oil to spike more than 25% from its lows, creating inflationary fears.”
Pakistan stocks tracked a broader decline in global equities, which slipped Monday as investors braced for potential retaliation from Iran after US strikes on its nuclear facilities heightened uncertainty. Oil prices surged toward five-month highs, peaking in Asia trading at their highest since January before paring gains, and were last up over 1%. The volatile commodity moves underscored the knock-on risks to global trade and inflation, further rattling nerves in Karachi.
“PSX experienced a subdued trading session, in line with the cautious mood seen across global markets,” Topline Securities said in a market note. The brokerage attributed the downturn to “rising geopolitical tensions, especially the intensifying conflict between Iran and Israel, which led to heightened uncertainty and widespread risk aversion.” It added: “This nervousness triggered broad-based panic selling.”
The confluence of events followed a bruising week for the PSX, where the KSE-100 had already retreated from recent highs. On a week-on-week basis, the index settled at 120,023.23 points last Friday, reflecting a 1.7% drop from the prior week’s close of 122,143.57 points. Monday’s losses compounded the pain, driven by a toxic mix of Middle East instability, volatile commodity prices, and uneven domestic economic signals.
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