Trading halted at PSX for 2 hours as index craters amidst near-complete shutdown nationwide
A drastic sell-off continues at the bourse as investors react to nationwide and global shutdowns, slowdown in economic activity
The Pakistan Stock Exchange saw yet another enforced halt in activity as trading resumed after a long weekend, with the sheer volume of sell orders placed before the market opened cratering the benchmark indexes and triggering a cool-down period.
The index plunged 5.96% as soon as trading resumed for the day, wiping 1,827 points off the benchmark 100 Index as investors dumped their holdings in a get-out-while-you-can run from the market.
The sell-off came with Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, main commercial hub and its biggest port, was locked down by the Sindh government to arrest a rapid increase in coronavirus cases.
Only 18.6 million shares (worth Rs759m) could change hands before trading was halted. The decline was across the board, with only 5 scrips advancing, 3 remaining unchanged while 146 recorded declines.
The index has now declined 29.2% since the start of this year.
The most active scrips today were Unity Foods, Lotte Chemical, K-Electric, OGDC and DG Khan Cement, which had declined 9.53%, 10.83%, 9.03%, 5.24% and 7.5% respectively before the market halt was triggered.