Pakistan suspends stock trading after 7% drop amid 'Operation Sindoor'
The Karachi benchmark stock exchange stopped trading after garnering losses following s
Trading in the Karachi stock exchange was halted for an hour on Thursday after the benchmark index KSE-30 dropped to 7.2 per cent lower and KSE-100 fell by 6.61 per cent, after the Indian military carried out strikes in Pakistan.
Since the Pahalgam attack on April 22, Pakistan's KSE-30 index has lost 12.75 per cent of its value, while the KSE-100 also fell by a similar value. This is the fourth straight session of losses in Pakistan's stock market.
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The country's benchmark share index closed down 3.1 per cent after opening down almost 6 per cent on Wednesday, following strikes conducted by India on “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan under Operation Sindoor.
India has also launched drone strikes in major Pakistani cities such as Karachi and Lahore, raising fears of escalating conflict between the two countries.
"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, told Reuters.
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The instability in Pakistan's market comes at a critical time for its struggling economy, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) set to sign off on an agreement that would trigger a $1 billion payout as well as a $1.3 billion climate resilience loan for Pakistan on May 9.
Operation Sindoor
The Indian military on Wednesday launched precision strikes on terrorist infrastructure at nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people on April 22.
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The nine terror camps targeted by the Indian armed forces were in Muzaffarabad's Sawai Nala Camp and Syedna Belal Camp, Gulpur Camp, Abbas Camp, Barnala Camp, Sarjal Camp, Mehmoona Joya Camp, Markaz Taiba and Markaz Subhan in Bahawalpur.
The Pakistan Army also resorted to heavy artillery and mortar shelling on villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, killing at least 12 civilians and a soldier.
