Summary Pakistan Stock Exchange opened lower, KSE-100 fell 2,174 points to 164,276, as rising Middle East tensions and global market uncertainty dampened investor sentiment.
KARACHI (Dunya News) – Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened lower on the first day of the trading week, with the benchmark index falling below 164,000 points.
The KSE-100 index dropped 2,174.5 points to 164,276, down from 163,421 at the close of the previous session.
Market analysts point to rising geopolitical tensions, particularly US President Donald Trump’s threats of military action against Iran, as a key factor affecting investor sentiment.
Asian stock markets continued their downward trend, mirroring a wider global selloff triggered by escalating tensions in the Middle East, which drove oil prices and global bond yields higher. Tokyo’s market dropped 1%, Shanghai edged down 0.1%, and Hong Kong lost 1.3%. Markets in Sydney, Taipei, Singapore, and Wellington also closed in the red, while Jakarta plunged 3.8%. In contrast, Seoul managed a modest gain of 0.3%.
On the economic front, Pakistan’s weekly inflation, measured through the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), increased by 0.47% during the week ending May 14. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the SPI rose to 358.71 points from 357.04, while annual SPI inflation was recorded at 14.52%.
Meanwhile, investor confidence remained cautious amid Pakistan’s ongoing engagement with the IMF. The sentiment followed the country’s receipt of a $1.3 billion tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) after successfully completing the programme’s third review.
