KSE-100 slides 465.98 points as selling spreads across PSX sectors

Selling was observed across the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding nearly 500 points in the opening minutes of trading. At 10:15am the index stood at 170,299.24, down 465.98 points, or 0.27%, in an intraday move that was broad rather than concentrated in a single sector.

The selling spanned automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies and oil marketing companies. Index-heavy stocks including HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, PSO and HBL all traded in the red.

Separately, Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad said on Sunday that Pakistan had discussed potential financing from the US Export-Import Bank for Boeing aircraft for the privatised Pakistan International Airlines. Mr Schehzad said no government loan or sovereign guarantee had been announced for the airline.

The move follows a cautious, range-bound week for the exchange, which the report attributed to persistent geopolitical uncertainty and shifting domestic political developments weighing on investor risk appetite. The KSE-100 Index eased 119.37 points, or 0.1%, to close the previous week at 170,765.22 points.

Internationally, share markets were mostly lower on Monday as oil prices rose again amid doubts that the United States and Iran will reach a truce soon, keeping bonds under pressure. US President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal over the weekend to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, claiming Tehran was desperate to make a deal; he said talks would continue this week, while Iran has shown no sign of softening its proposals. A shortage of refining capacity has lifted diesel prices to record highs well above crude, raising the risk that inflation becomes embedded in pricing and wage decisions. Central banks have responded with a round of rate hikes, with the Reserve Bank of Australia expected to tighten when it meets on Tuesday. Markets imply a 66% chance the Federal Reserve will hike for a second consecutive meeting in October, with around 90 basis points of tightening priced out to late next year. Japan's Nikkei was flat, South Korea's volatile market slid 2.4%, and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.6%.