PSX: KSE-100 sheds over 1,300 points

Selling pressure hit the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday, with the KSE-100 index losing more than 1,300 points in the afternoon, Business Recorder reported. At 2:15pm the index hovered at 173,993.33, down 1,335.49 points or 0.76 per cent. Automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil marketing companies and refineries all recorded losses, and heavyweights HUBCO, PSO, FFC, MEBL, NBP and UBL were trading lower.

In the previous week the index had settled 1.3 per cent lower at 175,328.81 points, as renewed US-Iran military clashes raised geopolitical uncertainty and higher oil prices added to worries about inflation and the external account. Brent crude gained 0.2 per cent to $96.45 a barrel, after climbing almost 10 per cent last week, while US crude climbed 0.4 per cent to $91.85. Reports said both the US and Iran had attacked vessels in the Gulf, adding to the pressure.

Abroad, Asian equities rose on Monday after a strong US jobs report was viewed as good for global growth, even though it reduced the chance of further US rate hikes. Iran also said it would set up a limited area beyond the Strait of Hormuz within days, after US forces struck three Iranian tankers and the Revolutionary Guard fired missiles at two American naval vessels. The European Central Bank is widely expected to raise its rate to 2.75 per cent on Thursday.