Shares in embattled Chinese real estate giant China Evergrande Group have been suspended today alongside those of its subsidiary, Evergrande Property Services Group Ltd.
The world's most indebted company announced it had entered a trading halt at around 11am AEST, sending jitters through global stock markets amid rumours the company is gearing up for a big announcement.
With $400 billion in debt, could the Hong Kong-listed Evergrande be about to deliver more worrying news?
The Evergrande share price was trading at around 52 cents ($2.95 Hong Kong dollars) when the company went into the freezer.
Let's take a look at what we know so far.
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Evergrande share price halted on Monday
The Evergrande share price has been frozen without explanation today, sending waves through global markets concerned about the company's possible collapse and the resulting fallout.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index has fallen 0.4% while Japan's Nikkei 225 Index is down around 1.2%. Meanwhile, all US futures are in the red.
The ASX appears to be unscathed by the Chinese property giant's troubles. At the time of writing, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) are both up around 1%.
It's unclear why Evergrande's shares have been halted today. It's even unclear as to who is responsible for the halt.
What we do know, however, is that the property giant missed an interest payment on Wednesday. That was the second payment Evergrande missed in as many weeks, according to ABC News.
What else is happening?
Interestingly, shares in another Chinese property giant, Hobson Development Holdings Limited, were also frozen this morning.
Hobson stated its trading halt was to do with "a major transaction" that would see it purchasing the shares of another Hong Kong-listed company.
However, as Reuters has reported, there's nothing beyond a synchronised trading halt tying the two together.
According to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, Hobson Development has a market capitalisation of around $10.67 billion. Whereas, Evergrande has a market capitalisation of around $6.91 billion.
Eagle-eyed market watchers will undoubtedly be keeping a close eye on both Evergrande and Hobson, as well as their share prices, over the coming days.
