PSX Trading Halted: KSE-100 Plummets Nearly 7,000 Points as Indo-Pak Tensions Escalate

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) faced renewed selling pressure on Thursday as geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan escalated, causing the benchmark KSE-100 Index to plunge more than 6,900 points during intraday trading. By 12:35 pm, the index stood at 103,060, down 6,942 points or 6.32 percent. Broad-based selling was evident across major sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration, oil marketing companies (OMCs), power generation, and refineries. Following the sharp decline, trading at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) was temporarily halted. Trading is scheduled to resume after a one-hour pause. Key heavyweights such as HUBCO, ARL, MARI, OGDC, POL, PSO, SSGC, NBP, and UBL all traded in negative territory, contributing significantly to the market’s decline. The sharp selloff followed reports of Indian drone attacks, which heightened investor concerns. “Market now down 3.7% after news of Indian drone attacks,” noted Mohammed Sohail, CEO of Topline Securities, highlighting the direct impact of geopolitical developments on market sentiment.