KSE-100 nosedives nearly 3,900 points as US-Iran tensions spike

Intense selling pressure gripped the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday amid escalating geopolitical tensions following a US attack on Iran, with the benchmark KSE-100 settling with a loss of nearly 3,900 points.

Bearish sentiments prevailed throughout the trading session, dragging the benchmark index to an intra-day low of 115,887.49.

At close, the KSE-100 Index settled at 116,167.47 level, a decrease of 3,855.77 points or 3.21%.

This is the lowest level seen after May 9, 2025, said Arif Habib Limited (AHL), in a note.

Across-the-board selling was observed, especially in key sectors including automobile assemblers, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation, refinery and commercial banks. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, OGDC, PPL, POL, MARI, and PSO, settled in the red.

“PSX experienced a subdued trading session, in line with the cautious mood seen across global markets,” said Topline Securities.

The brokerage house said that investor sentiment was dampened by rising geopolitical tensions, especially the intensifying conflict between Iran and Israel, which led to heightened uncertainty and widespread risk aversion.

“This nervousness triggered broad-based panic selling.

“Major index-heavy stocks — including ENGROH , PPL, LUCK, OGDC, and MARI — were among the top laggards, together dragging the index down by 1,054 points,” it added.

During the previous week, the PSX endured turbulence as a combination of rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, volatile international commodity prices, and mixed domestic economic indicators rattled investor sentiment.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index remained in sharp retreat from its recent highs. On a week-on-week basis, the benchmark settled at 120,023.23 points, reflecting a 1.7% decline compared to the previous week’s close at 122,143.57 points.

Internationally, shares slipped in Asia on Monday and oil prices briefly hit five-month highs as investors anxiously waited to see if Iran would retaliate against US attacks on its nuclear sites, with resulting risks to global activity and inflation.

Early moves were contained, with the dollar getting only a minor safe-haven bid and no sign of panic selling across markets.

Oil prices were up around 2.8%, but off their initial peaks.

Optimists are hoping Iran may back down now that its nuclear ambitions have been curtailed, or that regime change might bring a less hostile government to power there.

Stocks slide, oil and gold jump after Israel strikes Iran

One key factor will be access through the Strait of Hormuz, which is only about 33 km (21 miles) wide at its narrowest point and through which around a quarter of global oil trade and 20% of liquefied natural gas supply passes.

For now, Brent was up a relatively restrained 2.7% at $79.12 a barrel, while U.S. crude rose 2.8% to $75.98.

Elsewhere in commodity markets, gold edged down 0.1% to $3,363 an ounce.

Share markets were proving resilient so far, with S&P 500 futures off a moderate 0.5% and Nasdaq futures down 0.6%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5, and Japan’s Nikkei eased 0.9%.

Europe and Japan are heavily reliant on imported oil and LNG, whereas the United States is a net exporter.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee posted a marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.06% during trading in the interbank market on Monday. At close, the local currency settled at 283.87, a loss of Re0.17 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 595.01 million from 421.64 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares improved to Rs23.49 billion from Rs15.65 billion in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 53.30 million shares, followed by Sui South Gas with 35.99 million shares, and Pervez Ahmed Co with 24.02 million shares.

Shares of 468 companies were traded on Monday, of which 56 registered an increase, 386 recorded a fall, while 26 remained unchanged.