The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) commenced the week on a negative note as the benchmark KSE-100 Index dipped 0.69% amid dismal investor interest as volume of shares traded dropped to under 138 million on Monday.

At close, the KSE-100 finished with a drop of 313.02 points or 0.69% to finish at 45,362.85.

“Investors preferred to stay on the sidelines due to lack of positive triggers and hence, volumes remained low,” said Capital Stake in its post-market comment.

KSE-100 inches higher, closes near 45,700

On the corporate front, Nishat Chunian Power Limited (NCPL) announced its 2QFY22 financial result, where the company posted a Profit After Tax of Rs554 million alongside an EPS of Rs1.50, up 19% YoY compared to Rs466 million at an EPS of Rs1.27 in the same period last year.

Furthermore, Telecard Limited announced that its subsidiary Supernet Limited has been awarded multiple contracts worth Rs450 million by Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited.

Sectors dragging the benchmark index downwards included banking (58.80 points), cement (46.73 points) and oil and gas exploration (36.7 points).

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 137.66 million from 194.05 million on Friday. The value of shares traded also declined to Rs3.61 billion from Rs4.31 billion recorded in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 19.09 million shares, followed by Hum Network with 11.26 million shares, and K-Electric Limited with 8.95 million shares.

Shares of 339 companies were traded on Monday, of which 95 registered an increase, 225 recorded a fall, and 19 remained unchanged.