Trading at the Pakistan Stock Exchange was halted for one hour on Monday after the benchmark KSE-100 index plunged by a historic high of more than 6,000 points following a global meltdown in capital markets which deepened after imposition of tariffs by the U.S. last week.
The KSE-100 index recorded a decline of 6,287 points or 5.3% to reach 112,504 points.
Meanwhile, the KSE-30 index lost 2,055.58 points or 5.59%.
Following steep decline in the indices, trading has been halted for an hour.
According to the PSX regulations, trading is halted in case the KSE-30 index declines or rises by more than 5% for five consecutive minutes from the previous day’s closing. The duration of the halt is decided by PSX officials.
Moreover, the market has to have a five-minutes pre-opening prior to the re-opening, according to the regulations.
The KSE-100’s decline was in line with that of Asian markets meltdown as tariff imposition sent signals to world economies of the potential of a deeper recession.
The Asian markets have been down in the range of 3% to 12% where all the European and Middle East stock markets opened in the red.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 7.9% lower, while the broader Topix finished down 7.7%. Tech giant Sony plummeted more than 10%. Carmaker Toyota, the world’s largest vehicle producer, slid nearly 6% and rival Honda ended 5%.
In mainland China, where markets reopened after a public holiday, the Shanghai Composite Index closed more than 7% lower. The blue-chip CSI300 index also lost about 7%. In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng index last traded just under 12% lower.
Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Tencent were each down more than 14% and 10% respectively.
Crude oil price also declined reaching a four-year low mark. The share prices in oil companies listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange nosedived following the slide in global crude oil prices on concerns the dip might erode profit margins.
