Investors opted to book profit that forced the Pakistan Stock Exchange to close on a negative note on the first day of the week.

BRIndex100 lost 42.96 points or 1.0 percent to close at 4,237.53 points Monday. BRIndex100 touched intraday high of 4,292.67 and intraday low of 4,221.45 points. Volumes stood at 291.876 million shares.

BRIndex30 decreased by 242.72 points or 1.09 percent to close at 22,007.43 points with a turnover of 203.873 million shares.

The KSE-100 Index declined by 289.44 points or 0.71 percent to close at 40,442.81 points. Trading activity remained thin as daily volumes on the ready counter decreased to 320.078 million shares as compared to 416.921 million shares traded last Friday.

The market capitalization declined by Rs 27 billion to Rs 7.769 trillion. Out of total 388 active scrips, 223 closed in negative, 147 in positive while the value of 18 stocks remained unchanged.

Unity Foods was the volume leader with 26.850 million shares. However, it lost Re 0.67 to close at Rs 13.29 followed by Maple Leaf that gained Re 0.09 to close at Rs 24.25 with 18.773 million shares. Nestle Pakistan and Unilever Foods were the top gainers with Rs 362.25 and Rs 100.00, respectively to close at Rs 7,607.25 and Rs 7,350.00. Bata Pak and Indus Motor Co were the top losers with Rs 22.33 and Rs 21.18, respectively to close at Rs 2,056.65 and Rs 1,205.00.

BR Automobile Assembler Index plunged by 158.74 points or 2.43 percent to close at 6,371.38 points with total turnover of 1.879 million shares.

BR Cement Index declined by 97.21 points or 2.59 percent to close at 3,652.37 points with 44.315 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index decreased by 129.08 points or 1.34 percent to close at 9,501.33 points with 23.063 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index fell by 71.99 points or 1.27 percent to close at 5,579.79 points with 13.280 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index lost 20.28 points or 0.45 percent to close at 4,483.90 points with 34.076 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 1,009.16 points, down 4.93 points or 0.49 percent with 28.777 million shares.

Danish Ladhani at JS Global Capital said that the Pakistan equities closed on a negative note with the KSE-100 Index shedding 289 points to close at 40,443 levels, down 0.7 percent.

Profit-taking was witnessed in the session; however, this correction should be taken as an opportunity to accumulate value stocks. However, overall trend remains bullish in medium to long term. HBL (down 1.5 percent), UBL (down 3.2 percent), LUCK (down 2.8 percent), HUBC (down 1.5 percent), PSO (down 3.6 percent), SNGP (down 4.3 percent), MCB (down 1.1 percent) and DGKC (down 2.9 percent) cumulatively contributed significantly towards the negative index close.