After a one-day breather, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw a return of selling pressure with the benchmark KSE-100 Index falling 628 points to close below the 40,000 level for the first time since November 2020.

While trading volume improved during the session, clocking in at nearly 158 million shares, selling pressure persisted amid negativity over Pakistan's economic situation and the relentless depreciation of the rupee that has caused concerns over cost of production and inflation.

The KSE-100 Index fell below the key 40,000-point barrier during the day, before recovering slightly. However, selling returned after a minor recovery.

In a post-market note, Topline Securities said the declining trend in PKR and ambiguity over assembly elections due on Friday were major reasons behind the selling pressure.

At close on Thursday, the benchmark index settled at 39,831.75, a decrease of 628 points or 1.55%. The index has retreated nearly 6% since Thursday last week.

After massive falls, KSE-100 ends marginally positive

The development comes in tandem with the Pakistani rupee that continued to fall for a fifth successive session with the currency settling at 226.81, a fall of Rs1.89 or 0.83%, against the greenback. This is now the lowest closing level for the currency, beating the one it registered on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, sectors that dragged down the benchmark index included fertiliser (100.04 points), banking (91.21 points) and oil and gas exploration (78.80 points).

Volume on the all-share index improved to 157.99 million from 141.75 million on Wednesday. However, the value of shares traded decreased to Rs4.28 billion from Rs4.98 billion recorded in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 16.01 million shares, followed by TPL Properties with 11.88 million shares, and Unity Foods Limited with 10.04 million shares.

Shares of 333 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 40 registered an increase, 269 recorded a fall, and 24 remained unchanged.