The KSE-100 ended in the red after the Eid-ul-Azha holidays with the benchmark index finishing 80 points lower amid subdued volume on Friday.

The index traded in a narrow range, hitting an intra-day high of 47,946.45 before selling pressure forced it down to 47,686.50. At close, the KSE-100 finished with a decrease of 80.19 points or 0.17% to end at 47,793.07.

As per Capital Stake, investors preferred to sit on the sidelines due to the rise in number of coronavirus cases. Moreover, announcement of strict lockdown in some parts of the country also dented investors’ confidence.

KSE-100 ends flat ahead of Eid-ul-Azha holidays

The Sindh government on Friday announced tighter coronavirus restrictions during a meeting of the provincial Coronavirus Task Force, chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.

Sectors dragging the benchmark KSE-100 lower included cement sector (28.63 points), refinery sector (17.50 points) and textile composite sector (14.33 points).

Volume on the all-share index decreased further from 320.97 million shares on Monday to 314.16 million on Friday. The value of shares traded during the session amounted to Rs11.09 billion, a decline from Rs11.89 billion on Monday.

Byco Petroleum was the volume leader with 34.05 million shares, followed by Dandot (R) with 23.99 million shares, and Pace (Pak) Ltd at 22.59 million shares.

Shares of 417 companies were traded on Friday, of which 160 registered an increase, 237 recorded a fall, while 20 remained unchanged.