Equities see volatile start as KSE-100 swings amid Middle East tensions

A volatile trading was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index swinging both ways during trading on Wednesday amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. At 12:35pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 170,284.25, down by 46.31 points or 0.03%. A mixed trading pattern was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. On Tuesday, PSX staged a strong recovery as easing geopolitical tensions between Iran and Israel and a decline in international crude oil prices boosted investor confidence, triggering broad-based buying across key sectors. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 1,376.85 points, or 0.81%, to settle at 170,330.56 points.