The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday crashed by over 3,500 points. The steep fall was attributed to investor anxiety triggered by Pakistan’s information minister warning of potential military action by India within 24 to 36 hours. The session began with a drop of 1,717.35 points (1.5 per cent) at 9:53 am, bringing the PSX down to 113,154.83. The selling pressure continued to mount, and by 10:38 am, the benchmark had lost 2,073.42 points, or 1.8 per cent. The decline deepened further by 1:50 pm as the index slumped 3,255.42 points, or 2.83 per cent, from the last close. By the end of trading, the KSE-100 had fallen a total of 3,545.61 points (3.09%) to close at 111,326.57 from the previous day’s 114,872.18. Mohammed Sohail, chief executive of Topline Securities, attributed the panic to “news of likely attack in next few days”, according to dawn.com. His sentiment was echoed across the brokerage community. According to the report, Awais Ashraf, director research at AKD Securities, said, “Investors are worried about potential Indian military action against Pakistan, concerns that have intensified following the information minister’s press briefing.” Investor fears were stoked after Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan had received “credible intelligence” suggesting India intended to launch a military operation within the next 24 to 36 hours. The tensions stem from the recent deadly terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, prompting India to take a number of steps against Pakistan, including stopping bilateral trade and halting cargo movement through the Attari border, among other steps. The geopolitical jitters weren’t limited to equities. Pakistan’s dollar-denominated international bonds also came under pressure. The 2036 bond fell the most, shedding 1.3 cents to be bid at 71.85 cents on the dollar, according to the report.