The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw heavy selling at the start of Wednesday’s session, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index tumbled by almost 1,000 points within the first few minutes of trading.

By 10:35am, the index had slipped 984.11 points, or 0.74%, to stand at 132,419.08.

Heavy selling hit key sectors including commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration, and refineries. Notable index-heavy stocks such as Attock Refinery Limited (ARL), National Refinery Limited (NRL), Mari Petroleum (MARI), Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL), MCB Bank, Meezan Bank, and UBL all traded in the red.

The decline followed Tuesday’s volatile session, when the KSE-100 fluctuated between gains and losses before closing almost flat at 133,403.19, up just 33 points or 0.02%.

Meanwhile, on the global front, the US dollar hovered near a two-and-a-half-week high against major currencies on Wednesday.

Copper prices also reached a record high overnight after US President Donald Trump escalated trade tensions by threatening a 50% tariff on the metal.