With US-Iran negotiations deadlocked, PSX opens cautiously

Monday saw cautious trading on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with small gains and losses as activity was range-bound due to the stalled U.S.-Iran negotiations.

At 170,420.15 points, down 251.89 points or 0.15% from the previous closing of 170,672.04, the KSE-100 index opened marginally down.

The index had a high of 171,306.61 and a low of 169,268.33 during early trading, with 103,843,189 shares traded.

At the start of a week focused on war, central banks, and tech profits, oil rose on Monday as stalling US-Iran peace talks prolonged the disruption of Middle East energy supplies. Meanwhile, chip stocks increased due to renewed enthusiasm about artificial intelligence spending.

In Asia trade, benchmark Brent oil futures increased by around 2% to reach a three-week high of $107.97 per barrel. This level has raised concerns about inflation and led traders to virtually rule out rate cuts in developed countries this year.

After markets in Taiwan (.TWII), Tokyo (.N225), and Seoul (.KS11) followed Wall Street to reach record highs on a fresh wave of AI confidence, S&P 500 futures faltered during the Asia session but added modest gains of about 0.2%.