Selling presssure at PSX, KSE-100 sheds over 700 points
After making marginal gains in its initial hours of trading on Thursday, selling pressure was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing over 700 points during intra-day trading.
At 3:30pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 122,046.46 level, a decrease of 715.18 points or 0.58%.
On Wednesday, the PSX experienced a mixed trading session as investor confidence improved further due to easing tensions in the Middle East. Key indices recorded gains for a second straight day, while market activity stayed healthy.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index added 515 points, or 0.42%, to settle at 122,761.64 points.
Internationally, Asian stocks stuttered on Thursday, while oil prices stabilised and the euro was perched at a 3-1/2-year high as investors weighed geopolitical, economic and fiscal uncertainties as they braced for US President Donald Trump's deadline on tariffs.
Markets have been soothed by a ceasefire between Israel and Iran that appeared to be holding, reducing the risks of disruptions to the global oil trade and underpinning sentiment.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed in early trading, as the rally in Wall Street took a breather overnight. Tokyo's Nikkei rose 0.9% to a four-month high.
The US dollar selling kicked up a notch after a media report said Trump has toyed with the idea of selecting and announcing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's replacement by September or October in a bid to undermine his position.
That pushed the euro to its strongest level since November 2021. It last fetched $1.6805. The Swiss franc firmed to a decade-high while the Japanese yen strengthened 0.35% to 144.70 per dollar.
Trump has repeatedly criticised Powell for not cutting interest rates and has floated the idea of firing him or naming a successor soon, denting investor confidence in U.S. assets and undermining the central bank's independence.
This is an intra-day update
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