PSX: Selling continues, KSE-100 sheds nearly 900 points

Selling pressure continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday as Iran ‌and the United States launched their largest attacks on shipping since their six-month-old conflict began, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding nearly 900 points during the opening hours of trading. At 10: 40am, the benchmark index hovered at 171, 058. 74, down 884. 85 points or 0. 51%. Selling was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies and OMCs. Index-heavy stocks, including PSO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, FFC, MCB, MEBL and NBP, traded in the red. On Wednesday, persistent geopolitical tensions across the Middle East and rising global crude oil prices dragged the PSX into negative territory as selective profit-taking led key benchmark indices to settle lower. The benchmark KSE-100 Index shed 698. 56 points, or 0. 40%, to close at 171, 943. 60 points. Internationally, Asian stocks slid on Thursday as the biggest wave of attacks on shipping in the widening ​war in the Middle East kept oil prices above $100 a barrel, leaving investors nervous ahead of US inflation data that will influence monetary ‌policy. Benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields held steady at 4. 8406% after scaling to their highest since 2023 in the previous session as the Treasury Department announced a $6 billion buyback of longer-dated bonds that disappointed some investors who had wanted more. Brent crude futures edged up to $101. 4 per barrel in early trading, having broken through the psychologically crucial $100 mark on Wednesday for the first time since July ​as traders grappled with the prospect of inflationary pressure. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1%. Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s KOSPI dipped more than 1%. This is an intraday update

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