PSX tanks over 5K pts as US-Iran talks end without breakthrough

Karachi: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) plunged over 5,000 points on Monday after the US-Iran peace talks in Islamabad ended without any breakthrough.

Trading started on a cautious note and by mid-day, the benchmark KSE-100 Index fell sharply by 5,353.67 points as heavy selling was witnessed by investors at the outset.

The KSE-100 Index dropped 4,567.31 points (-2.73%) to 162,624.06 within two hours of trading starting on the floor.

Later, despite the intra-day volatility, the index showed signs of recovery as the bourse trimmed some losses to 4,450.97 points (-2.66%), with the index improving to 162,740.40 showing some stabilisation on the floor.

As the peace talks remaining inconclusive, a sharp surge was seen in global oil prices with crude benchmarks jumping over 7 per cent to exceed $100/barrel.

US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a blockade on maritime traffic to and from Iranian ports via the Strait of Hormuz also added to a panic selling mode by investors.

Kaukab Farshori of Capital Investments said the volatile environment was expected on the opening day of the week because of the uncertain global geopolitical situation.