Uncertainty surrounded the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday as the benchmark KSE-100 index ended a two-day winning streak to close 43 points down.

A combination of upside and downside pressures made the market swing between positive and negative territories throughout the day.

Stocks rallied on the back of a robust GDP growth figure of 5.97% for fiscal year 2021-22, released by the National Accounts Committee (NAC).

However, a dip in the rupee’s value past 200 per dollar in the inter-bank market sparked panic and motivated participants to offload their holdings. As per analysts, deprecation of the rupee has dented investors’ confidence.

KSE-100 rises 0.7%, breaches 43,000 point barrier once again

Following a brief dip at the beginning of the session, the KSE-100 index marched upward as investors weighed sentiment on an encouraging economic growth reading.

The market witnessed profit booking near midday which levelled the index. From that point on, the KSE-100 index traded in a narrow range and recorded minor fluctuations before closing on a negative note.

At close on Thursday, the KSE-100 ended with a loss of 43.43 points, down 0.1%, to finish at 42,983.45.

In a report, Capital Stake noted that PSX investors witnessed a tug-of-war between bulls and bears on Thursday.

All-time low: Rupee closes at 200 in inter-bank trading for first time against US dollar

Sectors dragging the benchmark KSE-100 index lower included oil and gas exploration (73.64 points), cement (36.94 points) and banking (16.17 points).

Volume on the all-share index fell to 187.1 million from 278.8 million a day prior. The value of shares traded contracted to Rs5.09 billion from Rs6.91 billion recorded in the previous session.

NAC approves FY22 5.97pc provisional growth rate

Ghani Global Holdings was the volume leader with 15.1 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 13.39 million shares, and Silkbank with 13.1 million shares.

Shares of 334 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 122 registered an increase, 195 recorded a fall, and 17 remained unchanged.