Panic gripped the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday as the benchmark KSE-100 Index plunged by more than 3,500 points amid growing fears of a potential Indian military strike against Pakistan.

The KSE-100 Index closed down 3,545 points, or 3.18 percent, at 111,326 points. Trading volume surged to 485.6 million shares, compared to 409.9 million shares on the previous trading day. The total value of shares traded rose to Rs. 30.81 billion from Rs. 29.06 billion.

A total of 457 companies traded shares during the session, with 60 recording gains, 352 posting losses, and 45 remaining unchanged.

The sharp market decline followed a warning from Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar, who cited “credible intelligence” indicating that India plans to launch military action against Pakistan within the next 24 to 36 hours. The minister described the potential strike as having “catastrophic consequences for the entire region and beyond.”

“Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends carrying out military action against Pakistan in the next 24-36 hours on the pretext of baseless and concocted allegations of involvement in the Pahalgam incident,” Tarar stated in a late-night post on X.

The market had gained over 800 points the previous day after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that its Executive Board would meet on May 9 to review Pakistan’s ongoing $7 billion bailout program and consider a new $1.3 billion climate resilience loan arrangement.