Trading on the Brazilian stock market was halted on Thursday, after stocks plunged in the wake of corruption allegations against President Michel Temer.

Stocks fell over 10 percent in early morning trade, triggering circuit breakers and preventing further trades. The fall was triggered after President Temer was forced to deny a major report that he paid off a witness in a corruption scandal.

Newspaper O Globo ran a report that Temer had been caught on tape having a conversation that referred to paying for the silence of the jailed former Speaker of the House, Eduardo Cunha. THis report was then confirmed by Folha de São Paulo.

Brazilian markets sunk swiftly on Thursday morning, with iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF, the biggest exchange-traded fund in the external market investing in Brazilian equities, falling 14 percent. The American Depositary Receipt (ADR) of Petrobras also fell nearly 17 percent.