KARACHI (Reuters) – Trading was halted for an hour on Thursday at the Pakistan Stock Exchange after the benchmark index plunged 6.3%, a notification from the exchange showed, following reports of drones being shot down in major cities including Karachi and Lahore.
Pakistan’s international bonds also came under pressure with the 2036 maturity suffering the biggest losses, down more than 1 cent to be bid at 73.8 cents in the dollar, Tradeweb data showed.
Pakistan shot down 12 drones from India that violated its airspace, the military said on Thursday, a day after Indian strikes on multiple targets in the country fanned fears of a larger military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
“Reports of drones being shot down in major cities including Karachi and Lahore pushed the market down more than 6% in a short span of time, triggering a halt,” said Adnan Sheikh, head of research at Pak Kuwait Investment Company.
The country’s benchmark share index closed down 3.1% after opening down almost 6% on Wednesday.
“The situation has raised fears about an escalation between the two counties, and it represents another example of how the Global South is likely to prove increasingly important for the global backdrop,” Jim Reid, global head of macro and thematic research at the Deutsche Bank, said in a note.
(Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
