KSE-100 plummets over 2,000 points as Islamabad chaos weighs in

Volatility and chaos were the themes at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark KSE-100 Index plummeted nearly 2,000 points during intra-day trading on Tuesday with investors viewing Islamabad’s situation as worsening after the Pakistan Army was called in to stop the protest from becoming more violent.

The market commenced trading on a negative note amid rising political noise on the domestic front, dragging the KSE-100 Index to an intra-day low of 97,361 points.

However, the stock market rebounded strongly amid heavy buying in the banking sector.

At 11:15am, the KSE-100 Index was hovering at 99,722.66, an increase of 1,642.88 points or 1.68%.

However, by 12:35pm, the KSE-100 was down an overall 2,281.88 points or 2.33% to hover around 95,797.90, a drastic fall of nearly 4,000 points.

The volatile ride comes as supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) clashed with security personnel tasked to keep the protest away from Islamabad.

The Pakistan Army was deployed on Monday night after protesters clashed with the police and killed four Rangers and two police personnel.

The lives were claimed after protesters rammed a vehicle into Rangers personnel on Srinagar Highway in Islamabad, as per Radio Pakistan.

At least 119 others were injured, and 22 police vehicles were torched in clashes just outside Islamabad and elsewhere in the Punjab province, provincial police chief Usman Anwar told Reuters.

The government has used shipping containers to block major roads and streets in Islamabad, most of them patrolled by large contingents of police and paramilitary personnel in riot gear.

On Monday, banking sector had led the gains, as a mixed trend was witnessed at the wider PSX with the benchmark KSE-100 closing above 98,000 for the first time in history, recording an increase of 281.55 points or 0.29%.

Globally, Asian markets fell and the dollar rallied Tuesday after Donald Trump warned he would impose huge new tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada on his first day in office, dealing a blow to hopes of a more moderate approach to trade policy.

The former and next president said on his Truth Social account that he would hammer the United States’ largest trading partners in response to the illegal drug trade and immigration.

The news dampened optimism that his pick to lead the Treasury, Scott Bessent, could temper the tycoon’s assertiveness, with fears now of another trade war with China and warnings that the move – along with promised tax cuts – will reignite US inflation.

This is an intra-day update