Pakistan equities continued their downward slide as the benchmark KSE-100 Index lost a further 300 points, while volumes also took a hit during another volatile session at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday.

After Wednesday's battering, which saw the index lose over 1,200 points in intra-day trading, the KSE-100 opened positive before the fall started.

At close on Thursday, the KSE-100 finished with a decrease of 300.36 points or 0.66% to settle at 45,296.88.

Experts believe the interest-rate hike along with rupee depreciation, which broke the 169 resistance on Thursday, is driving negative sentiment at the bourse.

KSE-100 recovers after intra-day fall of over 1,200 points

Sectors painting the benchmark KSE-100 index in red included technology and communication (87.08 points), banking (59.40 points) and oil and gas exploration (47.85 points).

Volume on the all-share index decreased from 583.73 million on Wednesday to 443.77 million on Thursday. The value of shares traded also declined significantly during the session, amounting to Rs12.38 billion from Rs17.39 billion on the previous day.

WorldCall Limited was the volume leader with 89.12 million shares, followed by Hum Network with 29.21 million shares, and 23.40 million shares.

Shares of 514 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 143 registered an increase, 349 recorded a fall, while 22 remained unchanged.