KARACHI:

The Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX) has temporarily suspended trading in all silver futures contracts due to unprecedented price movements and significant order imbalances, the exchange announced Tuesday.

In an official statement issued a day earlier, PMEX said the suspension, effective by 10:30 pm, will remain in place until the close of the market on Monday under the powers granted by Regulation 6.1.4(B) of the PMEX Rulebook. All open positions will be settled or closed by the exchange at prevailing settlement prices, while pending orders will be cancelled.

The exchange also confirmed that market making in silver futures has been temporarily suspended upon requests from market makers, in accordance with Regulation 21.5(2) of the PMEX Rulebook. As a result, orders will only be matched between buyers and sellers when the new trading session resumes.

The move comes amid a sharp surge in silver prices both internationally and domestically.

Globally, silver futures crossed $100 per ounce to reach $113 per ounce, while in Pakistan’s bullion markets, the price of silver has exceeded Rs11,000 per tola. PMEX noted that similar trading suspensions have been observed in commodity exchanges in India, Turkiye, and Baku due to extreme volatility.

The exchange stated that trading will resume once market conditions stabilise.