The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained in the grip of selling pressure on Thursday and the KSE-100 Index fell 0.35% amid lacklustre activity.

Lack of positive triggers restrained the market from posting gains, with an update from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Pakistan’s budget also irking sentiment.

At the end of the session, the benchmark index was down 145.28 points or 0.35% to close at 41,369.17.

KSE-100 ends flat after range-bound session

Following a brief uptick towards the start of training, the KSE-100 Index erased all gains in initial hour. From this point onward, the market traded in a narrow range for the remaining part of the session.

Index-heavy automobile, cement, fertiliser and oil sectors turned red while banking segment closed on mixed note.

Arif Habib Limited stated in a report that a mixed session was recorded at the PSX.

“The market opened in the green but lacklustre activity was witnessed all day long, as investors opted to book profits at the end of the day as the index ended in the red shedding net 145.28 points,” it said.

“Investors participation remained sideways as the third tier stocks continued to dominate the volume board.”

A report from Capital Stake highlighted that bears took control of the PSX on Thursday.

“Indices slipped lower and lower for most part of the day while volumes fell from last close,” it said.

On the economic front, the large-scale manufacturing index (LSMI) output decreased by 21.09% for April 2023 compared to same period last year and 9.78% compared to March 2023.

Pakistani rupee recorded a marginal decline against the US dollar with a depreciation of Re0.19 or 0.07% in the inter-bank market on Thursday to close at 287.37.

In the open market, US dollar was being quoted in the range of 293-295 in the open-market, as compared to a range of 294-296 on Wednesday.

Sectors painting the benchmark KSE-100 index in red consisted of fertiliser (58.99 points), oil and gas exploration (42.58 points) and cement (31.18 points).

Volume on the all-share index declined to 149.7 million from 179.6 million on Wednesday, while the value of shares traded dropped to Rs3.6 billion from Rs3.75 billion recorded in the previous session.

TPL Properties was the volume leader with 21.7 million shares followed by WorldCall Telecom with 17.5 million shares and BankIslami with 9.4 million shares.

Shares of 314 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 77 registered an increase, 213 recorded a fall and 24 remained unchanged.