Pakistan Stock Exchange halts trading as KSE30 plunges over 5% for second straight day after ‘Operation Sindoor'
The Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday halted trade briefly after the KSE30 index plunged 5 per cent, according to data accessed from the portal of Pakistan-based brokerage Sarmaaya Financials. 'The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) halted trading after the KSE-30 index dropped 5 per cent, driven by escalating geopolitical tensions,' Sarmaaya Financials said in a post on social media platform X.
According to the market snapshot shared by Sarmaaya Financials, the KSE30 was down 7.13 per cent, or 2,396.51 points, to 31,212.90 at 12;34 pm Pakistan Standard Time (PST).
The benchmark index hit a high of 34,174.51 and a low of 31,211.18 intra-day before trading was halted. The KSE30 closed at 33,609.41 points on Wednesday. Overall, the KSE30 has lost nearly 10 per cent value in 2 days, since India struck terror camps at nine locations across Pakistan early on Wednesday in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
The KSE100 continued to spiral downwards on Thursday as the benchmark tanked 6.32 per cent or 6,948.73 points to 103,060.30, slightly higher than its intra-day low of 103,055.18, at 12:34 PM PST, according to Sarmaaya Financials' data. The KSE100 hit a high of 111,881.03 during intra-day trade on Thursday. The index was down over 9 per cent in 2 days, at the time of writing.
Pakistan's international bonds surged nearly 1 per cent on Wednesday after 'Operation Sindoor', Pakistan-based financial daily the Business Recorder reported, citing Tradeweb data. Pakistan's 2031 sovereign bond saw bids being placed at over 81 cents in the dollar, according to the report.
Pakistan's economy is highly sensitive to conflict owing to its reliance on external sources of funding, the Business Recorder reported, citing Hasnain Malik, managing director, emerging and frontier markets equity strategy, Tellimer, Dubai.
India's efforts urging the IMF to review funding for Pakistan is also likely to hurt the latter's economy, said Sakib Sherani, economist and head, Macro Economic Insights, according to the report.
India is eyeing discussions with all multilateral development banks to curb financial flows into Pakistan, a senior government official told the Indian Express on Friday. This comes against the backdrop of the terror attack on civilians in Pahalgam, Kashmir last week.
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