Summary Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed a sharp decline as the KSE-100 index fell by over 2,000 points to 153,503 during trading, amid continued volatility linked to tensions in the Middle East
KARACHI (Dunya News) - Stock markets around the world continue to experience volatility due to rising tensions in the Middle East, while the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) once again witnessed a negative trend during early trading on Thursday.
The PSX was in the negative zone as trading began on the fourth business day of the week, reflecting investors' caution amid regional uncertainty.
The benchmark KSE-100 index dropped by more than 2,000 points to 153,503 points. The sharp decline highlighted the pressure on the market as investors reacted to ongoing geopolitical developments affecting global financial markets.
It is worth noting that during the previous trading session, the KSE-100 index had closed at 155,858 points, registering a decline of 318 points by the end of the business day.
Meanwhile, shares in Asia fell broadly, as oil prices leapt 9% to above $100 a barrel on reports of more ships hit in Gulf waters and the closure of oil terminals - a jump that promises to fuel inflation and push borrowing costs higher worldwide, reports Reuters.
Investors took little comfort from the International Energy Agency's plan to release 400 million barrels of oil from its reserves, the largest such move in its history. As part of that, the U.S. said it would release 172 million barrels of oil from next week.
Shares slid, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan falling 1.6%, while the Nikkei dropped 1.5%.
Chinese blue-chips lost 0.6% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index skidded 1.2%.
Both S&P 500 futures and NASDAQ futures fell 1%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures were down 1% and DAX futures lost 1.1%.
