KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued to decline for the third consecutive session on Wednesday amid rising tensions in the Strait of Hormuz. This situation drove oil prices upward, intensifying inflationary pressures.
These developments pose significant risks to the economic outlook, as rising production costs amid anticipated interest rate hikes to curb inflation could further dampen already depressed industrial and trading activity and temper hopes for an economic revival.
The rising import costs and subdued export performance widened the country’s trade deficit in the first two months of the current fiscal year, further straining foreign exchange reserves amid large external debt obligations.
Topline Securities Ltd said the benchmark KSE-100 index fell 698.56 points, or 0.40 per cent, to close at 171,943.60, after trading between an intraday high of 173,174 and a low of 171,802.
Crude oil and inflation spike trigger selling
The brokerage noted that the session remained volatile and bearish, with investors continuing to exercise caution amid heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and elevated crude oil prices.
Brent crude futures breached $100 a barrel for the first time since late July, as Iran and the US attacked tankers in the biggest wave of attacks on shipping since the war began, threatening to worsen the ongoing disruption to energy supplies from the Middle East.
Fauji Fertiliser, MCB Bank, Lucky Cement, Meezan Bank and Mari Energies were among the major contributors to the index’s decline, collectively dragging the KSE-100 down by approximately 409 points. Conversely, Pakistan Services Ltd, United Bank and Oil and Gas Development Company provided some support, collectively adding approximately 224 points to the index.
Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd, noted that the market sentiment remained subdued amid geopolitical uncertainty.
On the macro front, remittances increased 17pc year-on-year to $3.7bn in August, while 2MFY27 remittances rose 15pc year-on-year to $7.3bn.
Investor participation weakened sharply amid persistent jittery conditions as the trading volume plunged 33.89pc to 477.6 million shares and the total traded value dipped 18.98pc to Rs22.6bn. Cnergyico Pk topped the volume chart with 65.8 million shares.
Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2026
