Indo-Pak Tension: Karachi Stock Exchange Declines Over 3 Per Cent In Three Days

Karachi Stock Index: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) website has been temporarily taken offline on April 25. The webpage shows a message which says “We’ll be back soon." Pakistan’s headline index the KSE 100 continued to decline in trade on April 25. The index slumped to an intraday low of 1,14,617.54 today. At the intraday low level the index has declined more than 3 per cent in the last three sessions. The index has witnessed declines due to IMF’s GDP growth cut and India’s decision to suspend the Indus Water Treaty.

The KSE 100 index began its three-session declining spree following the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decision to cut Pakistan’s GDP growth forecast to 2.6 per cent from the previous prediction of 3 per cent on March 23. Notably Pakistan’s economy depends on securing loans from the IMF majorly through the 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

The IMF’s revised projection follows the imposition of trade tariffs by US President Donald Trump. While tariffs have been paused on an interim basis, Trump had announced that 29 per cent tariffs will be imposed on imports from Pakistan. Pakistan is a major exporter of textiles to the US, the country’s net exports to US were valued at $5.1 billion in 2024. Other factors which have dampened investor sentiments in Pakistan include a Fitch Ratings report which emphasises looming concerns regarding the weakening Pakistani rupee, uncertainty cause by political instability, and a volatile situation in Kashmir.

Earlier on April 22, terrorists gunned down 26 tourists in the Pahalgam area of Kashmir. Following the attack the Ministry of External Affairs suspended the Indus Water treaty and also announced several other tough diplomatic measures on Pakistan. The measures include the closure of trade via the Wagah-Attari border and the revocation of visa exemptions for Pakistani nationals under the SAARC framework.

KSE 100 Trading History

In a year the KSE 100 index has traded higher by over 58 per cent as per the Tradingview website. On a year-to-date basis Pakistan’s headline index has declined 0.79 per cent. In six months the index has climbed nearly 28 per cent and in a month the index has slumped over 3 per cent. In five days the index has fallen over 2 per cent.

At the time of writing the KSE 100 index declined 671.82 points or 0.58 per cent to trade at 114,348 levels.