PSX suffers massive weekly losses as trade war intensifies

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) fell sharply in the outgoing week amid rising uncertainty over tariffs from the Trump administration, increasing concerns about a global economic slowdown. Last Thursday, the PSX hit an all-time high near 119,000, in sharp contrast to reeling global markets following the ‘Liberation Day’ reciprocal tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump the previous day. Pakistani shares delivered a robust performance on the back of some domestic triggers, including a sharp deceleration in inflation and the long-awaited cut in electricity prices for residential and industrial consumers. After showing some resistance over the two working days post-Eidul Fitr, equities fell like ninepins on Monday, dropping 8,688 points or 7.3 per cent intraday (the highest point-wise single-day loss), the quantum of losses suggesting that the downturn was not merely due to the global rout.