The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) suffered a steep sell-off on Monday, shedding nearly 3,900 points amid global market jitters triggered by fresh US tariff measures and local economic anxieties.
The benchmark KSE-100 index dropped 3,882.18 points, or 3.27%, to close at 114,909.48. The index hit an intraday low of 110,103.97 — a staggering 7.31% plunge — before paring some losses.
At its highest during the session, it reached 117,601.62, still down 1% from the previous close of 118,791.66.
Trading was briefly halted after the index fell more than 5%, triggering a market-wide circuit breaker. The exchange resumed trading at 1:03pm after cancelling all pending orders. However, the bearish momentum continued post-resumption.
The drop came amid a global market rout triggered by China’s announcement of retaliatory tariffs on US goods, escalating trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
The sharp fall in Pakistani equities came amid an already jittery global market environment and added concerns over local macroeconomic conditions.
Morevoer, Asian markets nosedived on Monday as the escalating tariff war between the United States and China rattled investor confidence and triggered sharp declines across the region.
Japan’s Nikkei index fell over 8% after the open, while the Topix slumped more than 6.5%. In China, the Shanghai Composite dropped 6.7%, and the blue-chip CSI300 shed 7.5%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong opened more than 9% lower, led by steep losses in tech giants Alibaba and Tencent.
South Korea’s Kospi lost over 4.8%, briefly halting trading due to a circuit breaker. Taiwan’s Taiex tumbled 9.7%, with heavyweights TSMC and Foxconn both falling around 10% and also triggering market-wide halts.
Markets in Australia and New Zealand were also hit, with the ASX 200 falling as much as 6.3% and the NZX 50 ending down 3.7%.
The sell-off followed a fierce retaliation from China, which imposed sweeping 34% 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.
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