KSE 100 Drops 6,000 Points as US-Iran Talks Fail

Pakistan's KSE 100 index dropped nearly 6,000 points on Monday after ceasefire negotiations between the United States and Iran collapsed, erasing gains tied to Islamabad's diplomatic intervention. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir had brokered the talks, positioning Pakistan as a credible regional mediator between Washington and Tehran. The market selloff reflects how directly investor sentiment had been priced around a successful deal, with Pakistani equities absorbing the diplomatic failure as a risk-off trigger. The breakdown removes a near-term catalyst that had apparently supported the index, and traders will now watch for any renewed negotiation framework or escalatory moves between the US and Iran that could reprice regional risk further. Pakistan's dual exposure, as a country bordering both Afghanistan and near the Gulf, makes its markets particularly sensitive to US-Iran tension. The speed and scale of the decline suggest the ceasefire outcome had been substantially priced in, leaving the index vulnerable to an abrupt reversal on deal failure.