Trading halted at PSX after KSE-30 triggers circuit breaker

March 09, 2026 (MLN): Trading at the Pakistan Stock Exchange was temporarily suspended on Friday morning after the benchmark KSE-30 Index dropped more than 5% from its previous trading day’s close, triggering a market-wide circuit breaker under PSX regulations.

According to a notification issued to all TRE Certificate Holders, the market halt was activated at 09:22:15 AM, leading to the suspension of all equity-based trading.

As per the exchange rules, all outstanding orders in the system were automatically cancelled once the halt was triggered.

Market data showed that the broader KSE-100 Index also came under intense selling pressure during early trading hours. The index plunged 9,780.15 points, or 6.21%, to 147,715.95, reflecting widespread panic selling across the market.

The benchmark touched an intraday high of 150,174.10 and a low of 147,710.26, indicating heightened volatility shortly after the opening bell.

The sharp decline came amid growing concerns over rising fuel prices, elevated global crude oil rates, and the potential increase in business and production costs, factors that have dampened investor sentiment and triggered aggressive selling across multiple sectors.

Following the halt, the exchange announced that trading will resume in phases. The pre-open session will start at 10:22:15 AM, while the market will fully reopen at 10:27:15 AM.

Market halts are part of the exchange’s regulatory framework designed to stabilize trading during periods of extreme volatility and provide investors time to reassess market conditions before trading resumes.

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