Pakistan Stock Exchange halts trading after index drops over 5%

Dubai - This is was the fifth time that the trading has been halted at the Pakistani bourse this month.

Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday halted trade after index plunged 1,682 points or over five per cent.
This is was the fifth time that the trading has been halted at the Pakistani bourse this month.
"All market participants are hereby informed that due to five per cent decline in KSE-30 index, market halt is triggered at 10:17 am. All equity and equity-based derivative markets shall remain suspended for 45 minutes and shall reopen following a five minutes pre-open sessions. All outstanding orders have been cancelled," Pakistan Stock Exchange said in a statement posted on its website.
Pakistan's central bank on Tuesday cut interest rates by 75 basis points, which failed to lift investor sentiment. It was first rate cut in four years. The central bank surprised the market as majority of the economists were expecting 50 basis points. But the growing cases of coronavirus in Pakistan is causing worry about investors.
On Tuesday, Pakistan Business Council urged the country's central bank to cut rates by 200 points as economy faces headwinds from the pandemic.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index slipped 3.17 per cent on Tuesday to close at 32,616 points.
-waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com