The trade suspension mechanism employed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for the third time this week worked on Friday as the KSE-100 Index not only recovered from the huge losses suffered at the start of trading but also scored gains.

The market fell as low as 34,266.91 (1689.78 points) but gained 104.19 points (0.29 percent) to close in the green at 36,060.88 points.

Earlier in the day, trading was halted at the stock exchange a few minutes after markets opened, for the third time this week after the KSE-30 index fell 5.96 per cent to 15,039.17 points.

When trading stopped, the KSE-100 index was down 1,689.78 (4.68 per cent) to 34, 266.91 points.

At the end of the morning session, the market stood at 35,244.16 with a decrease of 712.53 points.

On the whole, the market experienced great fluctuations. Although the shares bounced back a bit after the resumption of trading after the 45-minute break, these gains survived only a few minutes. Initially, the shares bounced back after trading resumed as the index started recovering with the losses reduced to 483 points.

However, the trend continued after this recovery as the KSE-100 was down by 1,000 points at 11am.

But the market made gains during the last hour of the morning session as well as later in the afternoon session.

On a whole, the move to halt trading proved to be a success which was unlike Thursday when the trading was suspended after huge losses but the trend continued even after the resumption.

The 45-minute breather is an automatic trigger to counter the losses if the index is down by 4 percent. It was introduced by the Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) last year.

The KSE-100 Index has dropped by around 20 percent since January 21; however, this trend reached an alarming status after the economic uncertainty and losses suffered by top markets around the world due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier on Thursday, the PSX had shed 1,716 points and closed at 35,956.69, despite the fact the trading was halted for 45 minutes to control the downward trend. It was for the second time that trading was halted at the Stock Exchange this week because of the huge losses being suffered by the companies and investors.