PSX: Stocks shed nearly 1,300 points in early trade

According to Business Recorder, the Pakistan Stock Exchange opened Wednesday's session under heavy pressure, with the KSE-100 slipping nearly 1,300 points in the opening minutes. By 10am the index stood at 175,193.34 after losing 1,273.65 points, or 0.72%. Investors reacted to worries about supply disruption after the United States and Iran traded strikes overnight.

Selling spread through automobile makers, cement producers, banks, energy explorers, fuel marketers and power generators. Heavyweights including HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, HBL, MCB, MEBL and NBP were trading in negative territory. The benchmark had already closed 0.29% lower on Tuesday at 176,466.99, a drop of 508.69 points, as renewed US-Iran uncertainty and oil price swings made traders wary.

Regional markets also weakened, with the MSCI Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan falling 1.5% and South Korea's KOSPI losing more than 3%. Wall Street ended lower overnight as higher government bond yields weighed on stocks, while US manufacturing activity cooled in August. Futures now price a 67% chance of a quarter-point rate increase at the Federal Reserve's meeting ending September 16, up from 39.6% a week earlier, and CME Group's FedWatch tool shows this.