Trading at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) was halted again on Thursday when the benchmark KSE-100 index plunged 1,719 points after the start of the morning session.
This is the sixth time in the last nine days when trading had to be suspended.
The index was at 28,696 points when the halt was triggered.
On Wednesday, stocks slumped more than 6.5 percent – the worst ever decline in eighteen years – with panic selling from local as well as foreign investors intensified on coronavirus fears, dealers said.
“Panic selling was observed at the local bourse as index saw its worst ever decline in eighteen years,” brokerage Topline Securities said in post market note.
“(An interest rate cut) was completely ignored by the investors as fright over suspension of economic activity amid increasing number of coronavirus cases in the country weighed down on their sentiment.”
KSE-100 shares index lost 6.75% or 2,200.88 points to close at 30,416.05 points level. KSE-30 shares index followed suit with a low of 7.49% or 1,071.95 points to end at 13.249.13 points.
Of 363 active scrips, only 20 closed up, 336 retreated, and 7 remained unchanged.
The ready market volumes stood at 186.654 million shares, as compared with a turnover of 240.379 million shares in the previous session. Limited participation was observed in the market as trading volume and value declined by 23% and 53% respectively on a day-to-day basis.
In the last three sessions, the KSE-100 index has declined 5,645 points — the highest three-day decline in history.
It is the highest three-day decline in percentage terms since June 1, 1998, when the index had plunged 21.7 percent over a similar period.
