Trading halted at PSX for second time amid coronavirus outbreak.

KARACHI: Trading at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) was halted for the second time this week amid a global meltdown in the international financial markets, a private TV channel reported.

The benchmark KSE-100 index was at 36,348 when the trading was halted at 02:17pm on Thursday for 45 minutes.

On Monday, the PSX's benchmark KSE-100 index had plunged 2,106 points after the starting bell on the first day of the trading week, forcing authorities to halt trading.

External shocks due to breakout of coronavirus infections are pushing Pakistani stocks into a bear market, with the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE-100) losing 1,324 points during intraday trading on Thursday.

The plunge was just the latest in a series of shocks which started Monday.

The bearish trend in the market on Thursday set in after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus a global pandemic.

At around 2:15pm, the KSE-100 index was down 3.6 per cent (1,324 points) to 36,349. At this point, trading at the PSX was halted for 45 minutes as bourse rules dictate. According to new rules, if the KSE-30 index moves 4pc or more in any direction for a consecutive five minutes, trading is halted for 45 minutes. The KSE-30 was down 4.36pc or 708 points to 16,220 at 2:15pm. When trading began a few minutes past 3pm, stocks continued their slide, with an intra-day low of 1,778 points or 4.72pc.

Deputy Head of Research at AKD Securities, Ali Asghar Poonawala, expressed his views, saying a 'trifecta of dampeners is feeding into the negative sentiment'. He attributed the bearishness to the panicked sell off in international markets owing to...