KSE Update: USA’s warning to Pakistan jolts the markets

Market suffered yet another jolt after news surfaced that United States plans to increase their number of troops in Afghanistan.

KSE-100 index is down more than 950 points in the first hour of trading.

Apart from the already worsening fundamentals, markets have suffered a jolt yet again as the new Foreign policy on Afghanistan is expected to haunt the Pakistan economy for the next few years.

US renewed stance on Afghanistan and its increasing military presence in the Afghanistan and increasing pressures on Pakistan to do more have spooked many investors.

A few hours ago, news agencies reported that US has announced that it plans to increase presence in Afghanistan. However, he did not give any details on the military presence.

In a prime-time address before a crowd of US troops, Trump sought to convince the country that he was applying a different strategy to the enduring Afghan conflict. But he offered few details, sticking to broad outlines -- beating back the Taliban, annihilating terrorists and cracking down on Pakistan's harboring of militants -- that shed little daylight between the current and future US approaches to the 16-year war.

Warning Pakistan

On Monday, Trump vowed to change the US approach to dealing with Pakistan, promising to crack down on Pakistan's harboring of terrorist and militant groups.

Trump said that Pakistan has "much to gain" from partnering with the US, but also warned "it has much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists."

"The Pakistani people have suffered greatly from terrorism and extremism," Trump said. "Pakistan has also sheltered those same organizations that try every single day to kill our people."

"They are housing the very terrorists we are fighting," Trump said, noting that the US gives Pakistan billions of dollars. "That will have to change and that will change immediately. No partnership can survive a country's harboring of terrorists."