The KSE-100 closed in the red on Wednesday after profit-taking wiped out more than 600 points the index had gained during the opening hours of trading.
The index started the session positive, hitting an intra-day high of 77,800.04.
However, investors resorted to profit-taking in the second half of the trading session, taking the index to an intra-day low of 77,086.82.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 77,114.49, down by 76.85 points or 0.10%.
“Pakistan equities moved in both directions as bullish and bearish forces confronted throughout the session to take the helm at PSX. However, bears emerged as a winner,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
Investors chose to swtich between selective stocks of power, energy, fertiliser, auto, tech and cement sectors. Resultantly, BAHL, EFERT, FFC, UBL & PPL lost 263 points, cumulatively. On the flip side, PPL, HBL & ENGRO collectively added 121 points as they witnessed rejuvenated buying interest in them, it added.
Ismail Iqbal Securities said the equity market ended the day relatively flat.
“The benchmark index remained volatile throughout the session due to the result season,” it said.
On Tuesday, after losing more than 1,100 points in the previous session, the KSE-100 rebounded as it closed the day with a modest gain of 107 points, taking a cue from a recovery in the global stock markets.
In a key development, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that rollover of loan from friendly countries for Pakistan would be made in the ongoing month and added discussion with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are being held on a daily basis for the new Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
Globally, Asian share markets were mostly firmer on Wednesday after Wall Street bounced and concerns about a US recession were reassessed, though Japanese stocks took a dip as heightened volatility squeezed leveraged positions.
The Nikkei’s drop of 0.6% was relatively minor compared with Monday’s 13% dive and Tuesday’s 10% rally, leading to hopes investors were finding their footing.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.4%, while Korean stocks added 0.8%.
After bouncing overnight, Nasdaq futures eased 0.1% in part due to a 12% dive in AI darling Super Micro Computer after it missed earnings estimates.
Fears of an imminent US recession had also faded a little as the run of economic data still pointed to solid economic growth in the current quarter.
The Atlanta Fed’s much-watched GDP Now estimate is that gross domestic product is running at an annual pace of 2.9%.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee remained largely stable, depreciating 0.01% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. At close, the currency settled at 278.73, a loss of Re0.04, against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 447.53 million from 600.9 million a session ago.
However, the value of shares increased to Rs18.39 billion from Rs17.13 billion in the previous session.
Kohinoor Spinning was the volume leader with 70.04 million shares, followed by Power Cement with 28.78 million shares, and Pak Int.Bulk with 20.89 million shares.
Shares of 440 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 231 registered an increase, 160 recorded a fall, while 49 remained unchanged.
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