Extending losses, stocks closed yet another session deep in the red with the benchmark KSE-100 Index falling 585 points on Wednesday.

Volumes and value of shares traded inched up after the index saw a volatile ride during the session, swinging wildly on both sides.

A negative start was followed by recovery, before the index swung back into the red as investors opted to book intra-day profits.

At close on Wednesday, the KSE-100 Index ended with a sharp fall of 584.82 points or 1.30% to settle at 44,363.70. Cumulatively, the index has shed nearly 4.6% in the last three sessions.

“Investors remained varied over monetary tightening and ambiguity over the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which led the market to open sideways,” said Topline Securities in its post market comment.

KSE-100 suffers 1.74% fall, finishes below 45,000

On the economic front, the government said it will present a ‘mini budget’ next week as revealed by Advisor to PM on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin.

Meanwhile, Minister for Power Hammad Azhar said that the government is in touch with petroleum dealers' association over the margins' issue.

“A summary regarding revision of their margins has already been tabled in ECC and a decision will be taken in its next session,” tweeted Azhar.

Sectors painting the benchmark red included banking (156.96 points), fertiliser (120.99 points) and cement (110.92 points).

Meanwhile, volumes on the all-share index increased, clocking in at 310.38 million, up from 264.61 million recorded on Tuesday. The value of shares traded improved significantly, amounting to Rs12.95 billion, down from Rs9.73 billion on Tuesday.

TRG Pakistan Limited was the volume leader with 26.52 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 24.68 million shares, and TPL Properties XB at 24.08 million shares.

Shares of 341 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 76 registered an increase, 245 recorded a fall, and 20 remained unchanged.