KARACHI: Selling pressure gripped the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding nearly 400 points amid political volatility.
At 10:54 a.m., the index was hovering at 166,368.91, down 720 points, or 0.43%.
Selling was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, oil marketing companies and power generation. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, POL, PSO, MCB, MEBL, NBP and UBL, traded in the red.
During the previous week, the PSX observed selling pressure as persistent U.S.-Iran tensions, escalating military clashes between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthi forces, and heightened regional security concerns weighed on investor sentiment. The benchmark KSE-100 Index fell 1,066.20 points, or 0.6% week-on-week, to close at 167,089.28 points.
Internationally, Asian share markets got off to a cautious start Monday as earnings season loomed as a challenge to sky-high tech valuations, while oil was choppy after strikes on shipping and airports in the Gulf.
There was considerable confusion about President Donald Trump's announcement of an energy ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, which neither side had confirmed. Trump's proposal for Russia to increase its exports of diesel was also under fire from Republican and Democratic senators as potentially illegal.
South Korean stocks fell 1.1%, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed.
On Wall Street, S&P 500 futures edged up 0.2%, while Nasdaq futures firmed 0.5%. In Europe, EUROSTOXX 50 futures firmed 0.4%, while DAX futures gained 0.4% and FTSE futures added 0.3%.
Trade was thin with Japanese markets shut and the U.S. on a partial holiday ahead of the earnings season, with major U.S. banks kicking off Tuesday. S&P 500 earnings are expected to have jumped by more than 30% in the third quarter, according to LSEG IBES, though the bulk of that comes from the tech sector.
