The Pakistan Stock Exchange's flagship index, the KSE100 plunged 5.89 per cent, down 6,482.2 points to close at 1,03,528.8 on Thursday. This marked a new low for the index, which saw 4 shares rising and 95 closing in red, since the lows of December 2024 when the KSE100 hit 1,05,000, according to a note by Pakistani brokerage Arif Habib Ltd. This was also the largest single-day decline posted by Pakistan's flagship index, according to a note by Topline Securities. Arif Habib pegged the KSE100's next low at 1,00,000, down 16 per cent from the highs of April 2025. Brief halt in trading The PSX halted trade briefly on Thursday after the KSE30 index plunged 5 per cent, according to data accessed from the portal of Pakistan-based brokerage Sarmaaya Financials. "The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) halted trading after the KSE-30 index dropped 5 per cent, driven by escalating geopolitical tensions," Sarmaaya Financials said in a post on social media platform X. This was after an official statement by ISI Public Relations confirmed drone strikes by the Indian armed forces on the intervening night of May 7-8, 2025, Topline Securities said in its review note. According to the market snapshot shared by Sarmaaya Financials, the KSE30 closed 6.34 per cent lower, or 2131.27 points, at 31478.14 on Thursday. The benchmark index hit a high of 34,174.51 and a low of 30,649.93 intra-day on Thursday. The KSE30 closed at 33,609.41 points on Wednesday. Overall, the KSE30 has lost 9.42 per cent value in 2 days, since India struck terror camps at nine locations across Pakistan early on Wednesday in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. The KSE100 hit a high of 111,881.03 and a low of 101,598.91 during intra-day trade on Thursday. The index was down over 9.19 per cent in 2 days, according to the markets snapshot on Sarmaaya Capital's website. 'Operation Sindoor' impact on Pakistan's stock market Pakistan's international bonds surged nearly 1 per cent on Wednesday after 'Operation Sindoor', Pakistan-based financial daily the Business Recorder reported, citing Tradeweb data. Pakistan's 2031 sovereign bond saw bids being placed at over 81 cents in the dollar, according to the report. Pakistan's economy is highly sensitive to conflict owing to its reliance on external sources of funding, Reuters reported, citing Hasnain Malik, managing director, emerging and frontier markets equity strategy at market intelligence firm Tellimer, Dubai. India's efforts urging the IMF to review funding for Pakistan is also likely to hurt the latter's economy, said Sakib Sherani, economist and head, Macro Economic Insights, according to the report. India is eyeing discussions with all multilateral development banks to curb financial flows into Pakistan, a senior government official told the Indian Express on Friday. This comes against the backdrop of the terror attack on civilians in Pahalgam, Kashmir last week.
