Pakistan equities pare early gains after rally on US-Iran talks
Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.
KSE-100 slips by more than 300 points after gaining over 1,500 points in early trade; analysts say US-Iran developments will remain key for near-term sentiment
The Pakistan Stock Exchange opened the week in positive territory on Monday as progress in US-Iran peace talks eased oil prices and improved investor sentiment, though the market later pared its first-half gains during intraday trade.
According to the PSX website, the benchmark KSE-100 Index climbed more than 1,500 points to 180,507.82 in the early minutes of trading. However, the market later pared its early gains and briefly slipped into negative territory.
By 2:00 pm, the KSE-100 was trading at 178,578.26, up 344.49 points, or 0.19%, from the previous close.
The first round of talks between high-ranking U.S. and Iranian officials in Switzerland ended Monday, mediators said, after a tense opening marked by Tehran’s announcement it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. President Donald Trump repeating his threats to resume attacks on Iran.
A joint statement from mediating nations Qatar and Pakistan said the U.S. and Iran agreed to a roadmap toward a final deal within 60 days. Technical talks will continue for the rest of the week in the Qatari-owned Swiss mountain resort of Buergenstock, according to the statement, which was released by the Qatari foreign ministry.
The PSX had also recorded a strong rally in the previous week, supported by easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and investor-friendly fiscal measures announced in the FY27 budget.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 6,522.84 points, or 3.8%, week-on-week to close at 178,922.75 points, compared with 172,399.91 points a week earlier.
Separate notes by AKD Research and Arif Habib Limited said the KSE-100 was expected to remain supported in the near term by compliance with the US-Iran peace deal, progress in technical talks and favourable June 2026 corporate results.
However, the brokerage houses said geopolitical developments between the US and Iran were likely to keep trading cautious.
Globally, Asian share markets swung higher on Monday as Iranian negotiators said progress had been made in peace talks with the United States, helping calm fears that the process was breaking down.
Officials from Qatar and Pakistan also released a statement saying the first session of talks had concluded and progress was made on a roadmap to reach a final deal in 60 days.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.8%, having climbed almost 8% last week to all-time highs. South Korea’s red-hot market added 0.6%, after surging more than 11% last week on demand for semiconductor stocks.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.8%, while Chinese blue chips rose 1.6%.
S&P 500 futures pared early losses to be off 0.3%, while Nasdaq futures lost 0.2%. In Europe, EUROSTOXX 50 futures edged down 0.2%, while DAX futures lost 0.1% and FTSE futures were little changed.
Oil prices also declined on Monday after U.S.-Iran talks concluded in Switzerland with Tehran saying it had secured waivers for oil and petrochemical exports, easing worries about a supply shortage in global markets.
Brent crude fell $1.68, or 2.09%, to $78.89 a barrel by 0633 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $76 a barrel, down 60 cents, ahead of the contract’s expiry later on Monday. The more active August contract fell 69 cents to $75.16 a barrel.
Reference Link:- https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2026/06/22/pakistan-equity-market-gains-as-us-iran-talks-progress-oil-prices-ease
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
