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Bangkok, Thailand: Benazir Bhutto's death sent shock waves through international markets, causing most Asian markets to fall amid worries that global instability may follow.
"The sudden event has caught worldwide attention because Pakistan is not any other developing country. It is a nuclear-power country. However, we view the current response to the event to be short-term," analysts at Westcomb Securities said.
While Pakistan's stock market was closed, the market reaction in neighbouring India was muted. Mumbai's Sensex index dipped 9.77 points, or 0.05 per cent.
In Tokyo, Japan's stock market wrapped up the year with a sharp drop. The Nikkei 225 index fell 1.7 per cent.
Mainland Chinese markets ended the year on Friday on a down note. The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.9 per cent on worries that authorities will raise interest rates.
In Hong Kong, jitters over Bhutto's assassination and continued concerns about the US economy dragged down the benchmark Hang Seng Index by 1.7 per cent.
"I would suggest investors to avoid buying any stocks now amid the uncertain market outlook," said Castor Pang, a strategist at Sun Hung Kai Financial.
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