The benchmark KSE-100 Index fell below the 46,000 level after a decrease of 0.84% on Wednesday, a fall that comes in tandem with the currency that also depreciated against the US dollar.

A brief positive start was followed by side-ways trading with the index eventually hitting an intra-day low of 45,888.27 for a drop of 445 points.

“Major negativity came from banks, E&Ps and cement sector where HBL, PPL, MLCF and MEBL closed lower,” said Topline Securities in its post-market comment.

At close, the KSE-100 Index settled at 45,943.16, a drop of 390.20 points or 0.84%. The fall brings the index's cumulative decrease to 1.4% during the ongoing week.

"KSE-100 opened positive but could not sustain the level as profit-taking dragged the index down. The session remained dull whereas hefty volumes were observed in 3rd-tier stocks," said Arif Habib Limited (AHL) in a note.

Market activity was dominated by the rupee losing value yet again, depreciating 0.8% to close at 185.92 in the inter-bank market.

On the corporate front, HBL announced earnings for 1QCY22 at Rs8.6 billion alongside an EPS of Rs5.78, an uptick of 3% YoY. “The rise in YoY earnings is primarily due to a jump in total income and decline in provisioning,” said Arif Habib Limited (AHL).

After range-bound session, KSE-100 ends with 206-point fall

Sectors pushing the benchmark index lower included banking (95.13 points), cement (91.11 points) and oil and gas exploration (69.22 points).

Volume on the all-share index increased to 235 million from 228.62 million on Tuesday. The value of shares traded declined to Rs8.01 billion from Rs8.84 billion recorded in the previous session.

Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with 23.76 million shares, followed by TPL Properties with 15.74 million shares, and Ghani Global Holdings Limited with 14.76 million shares.

Shares of 326 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 87 registered an increase, 218 recorded a fall, and 21 remained unchanged.