KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) nosedived Monday even as the trading was temporarily suspended for one hour to cool off market volatility and prevent panic selling. However, despite the one-hour gap, the market reopened only to fall further as US-imposed tariffs and China's retaliatory moves on goods triggered tensions in global markets.
Pakistan's stock market KSE-100 index crashed by over 6, 000 points on Monday, despite the one-hour suspension of trading. The fall is being said to be one of the sharpest single-day declines in PSX history.
"Investors are fearful over deepening geopolitical and economic uncertainty, " market experts reckoned.
The fall in the Pakistani stock exchange is a proportionate impact triggered through the nosedive fall of the Asian markets in view of the escalating trade tensions between the United States and China.
The latest fall in the Pakistani stock exchange is being termed as a record day-to-day decline, with experts suggesting that the investors have fled the market due to global recession fears.
"Traders are nervously watching the two biggest economies going toe to toe on tariffs and are fearing that both could receive knockouts blows from a prolonged economic fight, " said Tim Waterer, Chief Market analyst at KCM Trade.
The Asian and other global markets also witnessed a major fall on Monday as the US-China trade war rattled investor confidence. As per details, Japan's Nikkei index fell over eight per cent after opening, Topix fell by more than 6.5 per cent.
In China, Shanghai Composite dropped by at least 6.7 per cent, Blue Chip CSI300 dropped by 7 per cent. In Hong Kong, the market opened at 9 per cent low, while tech giants like Ali baba and Tencent also suffered massive losses.
The sell-off followed a fierce retaliation from China, which imposed sweeping 34 per cent tariffs on all US goods. This move came in response to US President Donald Trump's sudden hike in trade duties, sparking fears of a prolonged and damaging economic conflict.