Selling pressure was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 shedding nearly 600 points during the opening minutes of trading on Wednesday. At 9:50am, the benchmark index was hovering at 183,357.74, a decrease of 593.76 points or 0.32%. Selling was seen in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks and fertiliser. Index-heavy stocks, including POL, PSO, HBL, MCB and FFC, traded in the red. Pakistan’s GDP growth is projected to remain at 3% in fiscal year 2025–26 before rising to 3.4% in fiscal year 2026–27, driven by a recovery in agricultural production and reconstruction efforts following a series of floods in 2025, the World Bank said. However, Pakistan’s current account deficit is expected to widen in fiscal year 2026-27, with a rise in import demand, alongside the strengthening growth, and post-flood normalisation of remittance inflows, the Bank stated in its latest report on Global Economic Prospects. On Tuesday , Pakistan’s equity market rebounded strongly, recovering a significant portion of Monday’s losses, as renewed buying interest lifted key benchmarks. The KSE-100 Index closed at 183,951.51 points, up 1,567.36 points or 0.86%. Globally, Asian stocks rose on Wednesday , buoyed by Japanese shares, as investors braced for a snap election in Japan that could lead to more fiscal stimulus, while worries about central bank independence and benign US inflation data whipsawed currencies. Geopolitical tensions across the globe lifted gold to a record peak and sent oil prices higher as US President Donald Trump urged Iranians to keep protesting, saying help is on the way. Iran, in turn, accused Trump of encouraging political destabilization and inciting violence. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares was up 0.2% to hover just below a record peak reached on Tuesday. Overnight, US stocks ended lower, led by a drop in financial shares after comments from JPMorgan executives added to worries about Trump’s recent proposal for a cap on credit card rates. Chinese stocks rose 0.7% in early trade, just below a 10-year high that was hit on Tuesday. European stock futures rose 0.1%, pointing to a muted open. This is an intra-day update