The bourse stayed under pressure on Friday, extending Thursday’s steep losses as rising US-Iran tensions, Red Sea supply fears and Brent crude above $100 a barrel kept investor sentiment weak.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s PSX benchmark KSE-100 Index touched an intraday low of 169,512.88, down 2,226.56 points, or 1.3%, from the previous close. It hit a high of 171,208.55, still down 530.89 points, or 0.31%, during the session.
The market remained under pressure after Thursday’s sharp sell-off, when the KSE-100 Index dropped 2,690.48 points, or 1.54%, to close at 171,739.44.
“PSX [is] under pressure amid [a] rout in global equities on worries over US-Iran tensions,” said Ahsan Mehanti, managing director and chief executive officer of Arif Habib Commodities.
He added that reports of Iran rejecting US peace proposals, higher crude prices and inflation fears leading to tight State Bank of Pakistan policy “played a catalyst role in bearish activity”.
The pressure came as the United States launched fresh strikes on Iran on Friday after Tehran-backed Houthi rebels attacked oil tankers in the Red Sea, marking an escalation that pushed crude prices past $100 a barrel.
The US military said the Strait of Hormuz — through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passed before the war — was “open for transit”, even as Iran pressed on with attacks on tankers using the route.
The Houthis opened a new front in the conflict this week when they attacked vessels in the Red Sea, intensifying fears over global crude supplies.
The international oil benchmark Brent crude surged past $100 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since May, rising 8%, as world leaders expressed alarm over the attacks. It hovered just above $100 on Friday morning.
US President Donald Trump has vowed to use frozen Iranian assets to pay for any damage to shipping, a move Tehran warned would set an “incendiary precedent”.
The US military said it had completed its 13th consecutive night of attacks on Iranian military targets to “hold Iran accountable and diminish threats from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to commercial shipping”.
Iranian state media reported that US missiles hit the southwestern city of Ahvaz, while explosions were heard in nearby Omidiyeh, the port city of Bandar Abbas and the island of Qeshm on the Strait of Hormuz.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned against further escalation, telling a UN Security Council meeting that the situation was “getting out of control” and “teetering on the edge of the unimaginable”.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned that “the energy shock could intensify further” and push up inflation, feeding speculation about a September eurozone interest rate hike.
The Houthis said on Wednesday they had carried out missile and drone strikes on two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, the Encelia and the Layla, with Riyadh confirming a vessel had been hit.
The new threat in the Red Sea has raised concerns over Saudi Arabia’s ability to bypass the Strait of Hormuz for some crude exports.
The PSX had also closed sharply lower on Thursday, with the KSE-100 Index falling 2,690.48 points, or 1.54%, to settle at 171,739.44.
