Fresh geopolitical uncertainty jolted investor confidence on Wednesday, unleashing a sharp sell-off at the Pakistan Stock Exchange that briefly pushed the benchmark KSE-100 Index down almost 2,500 points during the opening minutes of trading.

The sell-off was triggered by heightened geopolitical uncertainty following renewed US military action against Iran and tougher sanctions on Iranian crude exports, prompting traders to seek safety and pushing the market sharply into the red.

The market opened on a weak note, with widespread selling across key sectors dragging the benchmark Index to an intraday low of 183,758.85 points, down 2,496.70 points (1.34%), soon after the trading started.

Although bargain hunting helped the market recover part of the decline, the benchmark Index remained firmly in negative territory. By 1:04pm, the KSE-100 Index stood at 184,421.56, down 1,833.99 points or 0.98%, after earlier trading at 184,459.47, reflecting a loss of 1,796.08 points (0.96%) at 12:34pm.

During the session, the market touched an intraday high of 185,215.56 points and a low of 183,528.93 points. Trading activity remained healthy, with 175.31 million shares changing hands, while the total traded value reached approximately Rs15.50 billion.

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The latest downturn came as investors reacted to a sudden geopolitical shock that prompted investors to reduce exposure to equities, leading to broad-based selling across major sectors, including oil and gas exploration, commercial banks, fertiliser, cement and power stocks.

Market participants said investors were closely monitoring developments in the Middle East, as any further escalation could increase volatility in global oil prices, inflation expectations and regional financial markets, keeping sentiment cautious for the remainder of the trading session.