KARACHI, June 19 -- The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a sharp sell-off on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index falling more than 1,700 points during intraday trading as investor sentiment weakened following uncertainty surrounding planned talks between the United States and Iran.

The market had entered the session on a positive note after four consecutive days of gains driven by optimism over easing geopolitical tensions and lower oil prices following the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Washington and Tehran.

Early buying pushed the KSE-100 Index to an intraday high of 182,185.87 points at 10:14am. However, the upward momentum proved short-lived, with the benchmark index turning negative ...