Summary Pakistani stocks plunge 1.96% after Brexit vote.
KARACHI (Reuters / AFP) - Pakistani shares fell 2 percent in early trading on Friday, hurt by a global sell-off in risk assets after Britain voted to leave the European Union.
At 1017 local time (0517GMT), the benchmark 100-share index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange traded 1.96 percent lower at 37,484.18 points.
"It s due to Brexit. It s the volatility in global markets," said Saad Hashmey, chief economist and director of research for Topline Securities. Traders said banking and oil stocks were leading the decline.
Britain has voted to break out of the European Union, striking a thunderous blow against the bloc and spreading panic through world markets Friday as sterling collapsed to a 31-year low.
Investors scrambled to sell the pound, oil and stocks as Britain took a lurch into the unknown, becoming the first country to quit in the EU’s 60-year history, a culmination of decades of suspicion over European aims of creating an ever-closer political union.
Voters decided 52 percent to 48 percent in favour of quitting the bloc with 374 out of 382 regional results declared.
With 16.8 million votes for "Leave" and 15.7 million for "Remain", it is now mathematically impossible for "Remain" to win, the BBC reported.
