Pakistan's stock market plunged more than 2,000 points during midday trading on Tuesday, as escalating geopolitical tensions linked to the Middle East conflict dampened investor sentiment. The benchmark KSE-100 Index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) was down 2,145.44 points to hit a low of 171,490.63 points, from the previous closing of 173,636.07.
AAH Soomro, an independent investment and economic analyst, attributed negative sentiments to rising energy prices amid escalation between Iran and the United States along with Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia's energy assets. "Oil at $100 is keeping a lot of people unexcited and keeping fresh money away," he added.
Yemen's Houthis attacked four cities in the south of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, wounding more than 70 people and setting oil installations ablaze in what appeared to be a major expansion of the six-month-old Middle East war. The Houthis said they had launched a broad operation deep into Saudi territory, using drones and missiles to strike a Saudi airbase in the southern city of Khamis Mushait, and targets belonging to Saudi Arabia's state oil company in nearby Abha, Najran on the Yemeni border, and Jazan, a major Red Sea port.
After a month of calm in August, fighting in the Gulf has resumed, with Iran and the US exchanging fire, sending global oil prices back up to levels unseen since July. Brent crude prices were up more than 2% on Tuesday, above $99 a barrel.