PSX: KSE-100 falls nearly 1% amid geopolitical tensions

According to Business Recorder, the benchmark KSE-100 index closed 0.96 per cent lower at 174,776.59 on Wednesday, a fall of 1,690.40 points, on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. Selling pressure grew as worries about supply disruption deepened after strikes were exchanged between the US and Iran overnight. The index had dipped to around 174,700 at the open before recovering in the morning session.

Its best level came at 175,841.83, reached shortly before noon, but gains faded as profit-taking and fresh selling drove prices lower through the afternoon. The lowest point of the day, 174,562.87, came later in the session. On Tuesday the index had closed at 176,466.99 after a 0.29 per cent decline, with energy and technology counters weighing on sentiment.

Asian stocks also slid on Wednesday as a bond market selloff spread from global markets, while oil prices rose after renewed US attacks on Iran. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific index outside Japan lost 1.5 per cent, South Korea's KOSPI fell more than 3 per cent and the Nikkei 225 dropped 2.6 per cent. Overnight, the S&P 500 eased 0.7 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1 per cent as rising bond yields weighed on equities. Fed funds futures now imply a 67 per cent chance of a quarter-point rate increase at the central bank's meeting ending September 16, up from 39.6 per cent a week earlier, according to CME FedWatch data.