ISLAMABAD: The mounting tensions between Pakistan and India appear to have rattled investors’ confidence as the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced strong selling pressure on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 2,206.33 points.
At close, the stock market settled at 115,019.81, showing a negative change of 1.88%.
On Wednesday, India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan in response to a deadly attack in Pahalgam, located in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), where 26 tourists were killed.
In a major development, Pakistan has suspended all trade with India and closed its airspace with immediate effect for all Indian-owned or Indian-operated airlines in response to India’s slew of aggressive measures against the country in the wake of the Pahalgam incident.
Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) — the top security body — met for over two hours on Thursday to assess and formulate a response.
Today, a total of 506,702,532 shares were traded as compared to 605,175,574 shares on the previous trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at Rs 24.488 billion against Rs 27.762 billion on the last trading day.
As many as 453 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 83 of them recorded gains and 336 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 34 companies remained unchanged.
Globally, stock markets remained lacklustre on Thursday, while the recent recovery in the US dollar began to lose momentum. Investors faced uncertainty amid mixed signals from the Trump administration regarding trade and monetary policy.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump launched a barrage of criticism at Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, only to later reverse course and withdraw calls for his resignation. At the same time, shifting rhetoric on US-China tariffs has left markets uncertain, despite a flurry of related headlines.
