The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday witnessed yet another bloodbath this year — tumbling by over 3,500 points — as investors’ fears of a military action by India against Pakistan came true last night.

The Pakistani military brought down five Indian jets in retaliation for late-night strikes launched by its neighbouring country at six sites in Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The benchmark KSE-100 index decreased by 6,560.82 points (5.78pc) to stand at 107,007.68 from the last close of 113,568.50 when the market opened at 9:30am.

Due to the massive dip, the market was immediately suspended briefly.

This marked the second-largest intra-day plunge (points-wise), ranking next to the nearly 8,700-point loss that followed the United States’ tariff announcement last month.

However, the market started recovering slightly, reaching 112,457.37 points at around 10:34am, before closing at 110,009.02 points — 3,559.48 points (3.13pc) below yesterday’s close.

“The market opened under pressure today following Indian strikes on unarmed civilians in Pakistan,” said Yousuf M. Farooq, research director at Chase Securities.

“Some selling has been observed, though volumes remain low as investors assess the evolving situation,” Farooq said, adding that recovery was expected once tensions begin to de-escalate.

Shahbaz Ashraf, chief investment officer at Frim Ventures, also attributed the sell-off to “heightened geopolitical tensions following reports of Indian strikes on multiple Pakistani locations”.

“The flare-up has rattled investor sentiment, with fears of further escalation weighing on the market,” he said.........

© Dawn Business