PSX collapses as trading suspended for third time this week

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) collapsed on Friday as trading of shares suspended for the third time this week, sending the benchmark KSE-100 index down 20% from its uppermost level of 2020.

CEO Alfalah GHP Asset Management, Maheen Rahman said the render down is in line with the rest of the world due to global risks and economic effects of the new coronavirus outbreak.

There was carnage at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday as stocks had plunged over 4.77 percent within a day due to global risks and economic effects of the novel coronavirus.

The benchmark KSE 100 index plunged by a whopping 1716.56 points in intra-day trading and closed at 35,956.69 points. Earlier today, trading was halted to reign in the downward trajectory. The bourse was down by 3.6 percent (1324 points) to 36.349 at 2:15 PM forcing to halt trading as per rules.

According to new rules, trading is halted for 45 minutes if the KSE 30 index moves from four percent for a consecutive five minutes. The lower bench KSE 30 index was down 4.36 percent or 708 points at 16,220 at 2:15 PM. The bourse eventually closed with a decline of 936.44 points (-5.53 percent) at 15,922.37 points.

This is the second within the week which as witnessed a bloodbath on the stock market. The bourse declined on ‘Black Monday’ by 1160 points due to the coronavirus and plunged in crude oil prices.

Global stock markets tumbled as US President Donald Trump announced a thirty-day ban on travel to the USA from Europe over the coronavirus. The World Health Organisation has also officially declared the spread of the outbreak as a pandemic.

Asian markets were already a sea of red but Trump’s announcement on a European travel ban caused further selling despite the promises of an economic stimulus and further measures to ease the financial loss from the outbreak.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei was down 5.42 percent or 1,051.88 points to 18,364.18, while the broader Topix was down 5.06 percent or 70.15 points to 1,314.97 in the hour after Trump’s address.

Australia’s ASX was down 5.4 percent, while Hong Kong tumbled three percent at the open. The stock market received a hammering due to the global panic and chaos over the coronavirus and travel-related restrictions.