{"id":43111,"date":"2026-03-09T12:04:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T12:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=43111"},"modified":"2026-03-09T12:04:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T12:04:25","slug":"psx-drops-over-11000-points-as-gulf-war-sparks-widespread-selling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=43111","title":{"rendered":"PSX drops over 11,000 points as Gulf war sparks widespread selling"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Heavy selling marked trading at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday as the benchmark KSE-100 index plunged 11,015.96 points to close\u00a0at 146,480.14, a decrease of 6.99%.<\/p>\n<p>The market fell 7,322 points, or 6.21%, shortly after the commencement of proceedings, triggered by widespread panic among investors in the wake of the Gulf war and intensified selling pressure across major sectors.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the steep fall, the PSX issued a market halt notice, stating that trading suspension had been activated after the KSE-30 index dropped by 5% from its previous closing level. As per PSX regulations, trading was temporarily halted and all outstanding orders in the system were automatically cancelled.<\/p>\n<p>The exchange informed participants that trading would resume according to the prescribed reopening schedule following the halt.<\/p>\n<p>Also read: Shares skid as oil surge threatens inflation shock<\/p>\n<p>Market sentiment remained fragile amid uncertainty surrounding the monetary policy decision. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) later announced its decision, keeping the policy rate unchanged and soothing concerns over a potential rate hike. A sharp increase in global oil prices also fuelled widespread selling across the market.<\/p>\n<p>KTrade Securities equity trader Ahmed Sheraz told The Express Tribune that the unprecedented surge in oil prices from around $83 per barrel to nearly $119 weighed heavily on investor sentiment. Besides, hopes for a potential de-escalation in the Middle East conflict failed to materialise as hostilities intensified, further exacerbated by strikes on oil tankers in the region.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Pakistan, persistently higher oil prices could carry significant economic repercussions, like the current account deficit, pressure on the rupee, high inflation and the risk of slower growth,\u201d Sheraz said.<\/p>\n<p>Those concerns were compounded by the possibility of a rate hike by the State Bank\u2019s Monetary Policy Committee later in the day. Amid this increasingly uncertain backdrop, investor anxiety triggered broad-based selling across the market, leading to a trading halt, he added.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Heavy selling marked trading at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday as the benchmark KSE-100 index plunged 11,015.96 points to close\u00a0at 146,480.14, a decrease of 6.99%. The market fell 7,322 points, or 6.21%, shortly after the commencement of proceedings, triggered by widespread panic among investors in the wake of the Gulf war and intensified [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43111\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}