Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) plunged on Monday in line with the broader global market downturn amid mounting fears of inflation as the global oil crisis deepened.

The sell-off was triggered by stalled US-Iran talks, which kept the Strait of Hormuz closed and pushed oil prices above $110.91 per barrel after a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates came under attack.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump was expected to discuss possible military options on Iran, further denting investor sentiment.

As a result, the benchmark KSE-100 Index lost 854.84 points, or 0.52%, within minutes of trading and was hovering around 164,741.23 points at 9:39am.

Selling pressure was witnessed across major sectors, including oil and gas exploration companies, cement, automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertiliser, power generation, refineries and oil marketing companies (OMCs).

According to market data available till the filing of this report, the KSE-100 index stood at 163,028.18 points, down 2,567.89 points or 1.55%. The index touched an intra-day high of 164,939.08 and a low of 162,971.16, while traded volume was recorded at 97.57 million shares with a traded value of Rs6.85 billion. The previous close was 165,596.07 points.