Carnage at Pakistan Stock Exchange, index sheds 2,375 points
March 16, 2020 11:26 AM

Trading was suspended at the Pakistan Stock exchange twice on Monday as the KSE-100 Index at one stage tumbled by over 2,400 points during a day which saw worst single day loss in its history.
When the trading closed on Monday, the KSE-100 Index stood at 33,684.91 down 2,375.97 points (6.59 per cent) during the day.
In the afternoon session, the trading was halted as index was down by over 2,400 points and stood at 33,600.
Earlier in the day, trading was suspended at around 10:13am after the KSE-100 Index dropped by 1,651 points soon after the business started in the morning.
It is for the fifth time that the trading halted at the PSX in the recent days as this mechanism was applied thrice last week. When the trading was suspended for a 45-minute break, the KSE-100 Index stood at 34,409.
The Stock Exchange went through a turbulent period last week as the trading was halted on three occasions with the index going south on four days of the week. It was only on the last working day, Friday, when the index closed at a positive note.
On Friday, the index had closed at 36,060.88 with a 104.19 points gain after a wild day as the index first lost 1,689.78 points, triggering trading suspension. However, it made a net gain of 104.19 points.
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 coronavirus pandemic and the spectacular fall in the oil prices amid the trade war between Saudi Arabia and Russia over production and pricing issue are the reasons behind the turmoil at the stock market.