Asian Stock Markets Close Higher, Pakistan In Turmoil

Major stock markets in Asia closed higher on Friday, but Pakistan's stock exchange crashed after a tax announcement on some of its industries.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, was up 30 points, or 0.97%, to 3,213.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange increased 320 points, or 1.23%, to 26,491.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, was the best performer of the day by rising 445 points, or 2.1%, to 21,719.

China's Shanghai Stock Exchange increased 29 points, or 0.9%, to finish at 3,349.

The Indian Sensex benchmark rose 462 points, or 0.88%, to end at 52,728. The Singapore index added 18 points, or 0.61%, to finish at 3,111.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), on the other hand, plummeted earlier Friday, shortly after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif unveiled a massive 10% tax on major industries and additional taxes on high-income individuals.

A separate "poverty alleviation tax" was also introduced on high net worth individuals who have an annual income of 150 million to 300 million Pakistani rupees ($725,000 to $1.45 million). That tax amount will range from 1% to 4% of their annual income.

PSX plunged almost 9% to 9.80 from the previous day's closing of 10.75.

KSE-100 Index, which acts as a benchmark to compare prices on PSX, fell to as low as 40,555.41 points at one time for more than a 5% daily loss, after closing on Thursday at 42,716.97.

Trading was temporarily halted in both PSX and KSE-100. -