Investors lost millions as the Pakistan stock market crashed soon after opening on Monday.
Heavy selling hit the Pakistan Stock Exchange amid rising regional tensions. Panic gripped traders from the first minute.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index fell below 153,000 points in early trade. By 9:22am, it stood at 152,991, down by more than 15,000 points. That marked a sharp fall of nearly 9 percent.
Following the steep drop, trading was halted for one hour under market rules. The exchange said trading would resume at 10:22am.
Selling was seen across almost all major sectors. These included cement, banks, fertiliser, oil and gas, refineries, power companies and automobile firms.
Big companies such as HBL, MCB, MEBL, OGDC, PPL and HUBCO traded deep in the red, adding pressure on the index.
Market analysts said investors rushed to offload shares due to uncertainty over the regional security situation. Ongoing geopolitical tensions have shaken confidence.
Last week also saw continued pressure on stocks. Although the market showed slight recovery toward the weekend, fears over security and regional instability kept investors cautious.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance began talks with an International Monetary Fund mission on Monday, a development closely watched by investors.
Traders fear continued uncertainty may keep the market under strain in the coming days.
