Trading at the Pakistan Stock Exchange was temporarily suspended on Monday morning after the benchmark KSE-100 Index dropped more than 6 percent within minutes of the opening bell, triggering a market-wide halt under exchange rules.
The sharp decline activated the automatic circuit breaker mechanism designed to control extreme volatility in the market. As a result, all equity-based trading was suspended, and outstanding orders in the system were automatically cancelled.
At around 9:22 a.m., the KSE-100 Index fell to 147,715.95 points, down 9,780.15 points, or 6.21 percent, from the previous close. The decline also pushed the KSE-30 Index more than 5 percent lower, further confirming the conditions required to trigger a market halt.
The exchange informed Trading Right Entitlement Certificate holders that the halt was activated at 9:22:15 a.m. Trading was scheduled to resume in phases, with the pre-open session beginning at 10:22 a.m. and full market trading restarting at 10:27 a.m.
Heavy selling pressure was observed across several major sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement companies, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration firms, oil marketing companies, power generation companies, and refineries.
Among the major stocks that traded in negative territory during the early session were MCB Bank, Meezan Bank, National Bank of Pakistan, Mari Energies, Oil and Gas Development Company, Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Pakistan State Oil, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, Sui Southern Gas Company, and Hub Power Company.
Market analysts linked the sell-off to growing investor concerns over the sharp surge in global oil prices, which could increase fuel import costs, raise production expenses for businesses, and put renewed pressure on inflation and economic stability in Pakistan.
