KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed a severe bearish trend on Thursday as escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East sent shock-waves through domestic and global financial markets.
Market analysts attributed the downturn to a new level of regional instability following reports of a strike on Iran’s gas fields and subsequent retaliatory strikes on Qatar and other Arab states.
On the fourth day of the business week, a sharp decline was witnessed from the onset of trading, reflecting a nervous reaction from investors to the deteriorating security situation in the Gulf. Although the benchmark KSE-100 index had shown signs of a cautious recovery mid-week—climbing to the 154,292 level by Wednesday’s close—those gains were largely erased during Thursday’s session. The index was seen trading at the 151,800 level after a decline of more than 2,000 points during intra-day trade, as selling pressure intensified across major sectors.
The volatility at the local bourse mirrors a broader shift in global financial markets, where the effects of the Middle East crisis are beginning to be felt acutely. With global energy supply chains under threat, international oil benchmarks and commodity prices have reacted sharply, heightening fears of renewed inflationary pressure for import-dependent economies like Pakistan. Traders noted that the “risk-off” sentiment remains dominant, with institutional investors sidelined as they monitor the scale of the conflict’s impact on regional energy infrastructure and global trade routes.
