PSX: KSE-100 sheds nearly 1,500 points as situation remains tense in ME

Selling pressure was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) after new Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia and Iranian attacks on ships in the Gulf, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding nearly 1, 500 points during the opening minutes of trading on Monday. At 9: 40am, the benchmark index was hovering at 169, 030. 57, down by 1, 481. 28 points or 0. 87%. Selling was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, HBL, MEBL, MCB and NBP, traded in the red. Renewed geopolitical tensions between Iran and the United States and the intensifying conflict in the Middle East kept investor sentiment under pressure during the last week. Concerns over maritime security, global trade disruptions and a fresh surge in international oil prices pushed the benchmark KSE-100 Index of the PSX down 4, 816. 95 points, or 2. 7% week-on-week, to 170, 511. 86 points by the weekend. Internationally, share markets slid in Asia on Monday as supply concerns caused oil prices to spike anew, while investors braced for possible ​interest rate hikes in both the United States and Japan this week. Brent climbed 3% as new strikes on Saudi Arabia ‌ and on ships in the Gulf tested nerves, after an attack on a Saudi oil pipeline and an advance by Yemen’s Houthis threatened to worsen the wartime disruption to global energy supplies. A meeting in Oman between Iran and Gulf Arab states, scheduled for Monday to discuss a deal on opening the Strait of Hormuz, was postponed. With shipping through ​the strait and the Bab el-Mandeb under threat, analysts fear oil prices could stay elevated for a lengthy period, stoking inflation globally. An ​uncomfortably hot US consumer price report on Friday led markets to price in an 86% chance the Federal Reserve will ⁠lift rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, and move again by December. It would be the first hike since mid-2023. Brent futures were last up 2. 6% at $107. 36 a barrel, having gained almost 9% last week, ​while U. S. crude rose 2. 4% to $102. 48 a barrel. Japan’s Nikkei fell 1. 7%, while South Korea dropped 3. 3%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ​slipped 0. 8%. In Europe, EUROSTOXX 50 futures lost 0. 5%, while DAX futures fell 0. 4% and FTSE futures dipped 0. 1%. On Wall Street, S&P 500 futures lost 0. 5%, while Nasdaq ‌futures fell ⁠1. 1%. This is an intraday update

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