Bears make a comeback at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index lost 726.22 points or 1.2 percent settling at 44,724.09 below the 45,000 mark.

Indices swing in both directions until finally settling in red while volumes increased from the last close. Ahead of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) announcement tomorrow (Friday), the investors adopted a cautious approach.

KSE-100 index recorded an intraday high of 45,612.95, however, the index failed to sustain the gains and slid to day’s low of 44,641.49. The KMI 30 index declined by 1,310.40 points ending at 73,599.87. While the KSE All Share index fell short by 402.31 points closing at 30,655.84.

Overall market volumes appreciated from 510.36 million shares in the last session to 553.99mn shares. Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited (BYCO -0.59%), K-Electric Limited (KEL +0.49%) and TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG -6.29%) led the volume chart. The scrips had 57.88 mn shares, 49.49 mn shares, and 39.22 mn shares exchanged, respectively.

Sectors wiping the gains of KSE 100 index included Technology and Communication sector (118.59 points), Banking sector (115.12 points) and Oil and Gas Exploration sector (89.30 points). Company-wise, TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG 103.56 points), Pakistan State Oil Company Limited (PSO 35.64 points) Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL 34.69 points) were top negative contributors.

The refinery sector lost 4.23% from its cumulative market capitalization. Attock Refinery Limited (ATRL 5.57%), Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL 5.83%) and National Refinery Limited (NRL 7.50%) all closed in red.

On the global front, equities rallied in Asia on Thursday after the Federal Reserve ramped up its outlook for the US economy but reiterated its pledge to maintain its ultra-loose market-friendly monetary policies for as long as needed.

Whereas, Brent crude slipped by $0.12, or 0.2%, to reach $67.88 a barrel while US oil was reduced $0.12, or 0.2%, to reach $64.48 a barrel, reported Reuters.