A bloodbath was witnessed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday after the benchmark KSE-100 Index declined by over 2,000 points.
At the time of filing this report, the KSE-100 Index was being traded at 35,927.98 showing a decline of 2,291.69 points and a percentage drop of six percent. The development comes amid reports of a slowdown in the global economy due to the impact of novel Coronavirus and a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.
The benchmark index dropped down at the start of the trading session, shedding 2,107 points (5.65pc) before trading was suspended.
The 5 Largest Drops in Last 10 Years
Oil Prices Tank
The oil prices have tanked to a historic drop after Saudi Arabia shocked the market by launching a price war against Russia. Oil fell by almost 30pc on Monday, the most since 1991. Brent crude futures fell by as much as $14.25, or 31.5pc, to $31.02 a barrel. That was the biggest percentage drop since January 17, 1991, at the start of the first Gulf War and the lowest since February 12, 2016.
OPEC and Russia on Friday failed to agree on a decision to cut oil production that would have contained the plunge, and on Saturday, Saudi Arabia's state oil giant Aramco slashed export prices by $6 to $8 to retake market share from Russia. As per Reuters, Saudi Arabia announced massive discounts to its official selling prices for April, and the nation is reportedly preparing to increase its production above the 10 million barrel per day mark.
Meanwhile, the energy demand has been falling as people have curtailed global travel, meanwhile, the Coronavirus outbreak is also hampering countries' economies leading to even less demand.
Furthermore, gold prices hiked by over $1,700 per ounce level for the first time since late 2012 on Monday, as coronavirus concerns grew and a drop in oil prices pushed investors to look for safe havens.
https://www.brecorder.com/2020/03/09/578476/psx-brindex-30-update-09-mar-2020-2/
The three top traded companies at the PSX were Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited with a volume of 8,556,500 and price per share of 28.35 (0.33), Fauji Cement Company Limited with a volume of 6,419,500 and price per share of 18.00 (0.52), Pioneer Cement Limited with a volume of 4,575,500 and price per share of 38.31 (2.13).
BR-100 Index
Panic across the globe as oil crash
Coronavirus fears and a crash in oil prices triggered panic as stocks around the world plunged with energy firms taking the brunt of the hammering across Asia.
Trading floors were a sea of red, with Tokyo, Sydney, and Manila plunging around 6pc, while Hong Kong shed 3.5pc by lunch.
Mumbai, Singapore, Seoul, Jakarta, and Wellington were more than 3pc down, Shanghai and Taipei shed at least 2pc and Bangkok gave up 5pc.