Volatility at PSX, KSE-100 sheds over 500 points

After a positive start, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw profit-taking, which erased all intraday gains as the benchmark KSE-100 Index shed over 500 points during trading on Monday. At 1:40pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 179,043.44, a decrease of 527.82 points or 0.29%. Selling was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, OGDC, PSO, FFC, MCB and MEBL, traded in the red. PSX extended its bullish momentum during the outgoing shortened three-day trading week as easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, investor-friendly amendments to the FY27 Finance Bill and lower domestic fuel prices continued to strengthen investor confidence. According to the weekly market review, the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 648.50 points, or 0.36%, during the week to settle at 179,571.27 points. Internationally, Asian stocks wobbled on Monday after Iran and the United States agreed to halt renewed hostilities that had cast a shadow over an interim ​peace deal and kept oil prices supported, while the dollar stood tall near a one-year high on rate-hike bets. A return to diplomacy in the ‌Middle East would follow several days of tit-for-tat strikes since an Iranian projectile hit a cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz last week, with both sides accusing each other of breaking an interim ceasefire. Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained 0.4% while European futures rose 0.2%. South Korea’s KOSPI fell nearly 2%, while Japan’s Nikkei slipped 1%, leaving ​MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares down 0.4%. Worries over the future of the peace deal lifted oil prices, which have given up almost all of their war-driven gains as markets quickly ​reprice the prospect of easing supply. On Monday, Brent crude futures climbed 0.85% to $72.6 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose over 1% to $70.01 a barrel. This is an intraday update