PSX sheds 454 points amid selling pressure

PSX sheds 454 points amid selling pressure

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended Monday’s session in negative territory as persistent selling across major sectors and subdued trading activity weighed on investor sentiment.

The benchmark KSE-100 index lost 453.63 points, or 0.27%, to close at 165,966.09 points. The market opened on a weak note, with the index falling to 166,120.90 points, down 298.81 points or 0.18%, by 9:38 am.

The index staged a recovery during the session, reaching an intraday high of 166,698.46 points. However, renewed selling erased those gains, pushing the benchmark down to an intraday low of 165,918.35 points before the market closed lower.

Selling pressure affected several major sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, and oil marketing companies. The broad-based decline limited the market’s recovery as investors remained cautious in the absence of fresh positive triggers.

According to KTrade Securities, the benchmark shed 454 points, or 0.27%, amid cautious sentiment and subdued trading volumes of 109 million shares.

Trading activity remained concentrated in Pakistan Refinery, Cnergyico PK, TPL Trakker, WorldCall Telecom and Saif Power. Meanwhile, selective buying in MCB Bank, Attock Refinery, Pakistan Oilfields, TRG Pakistan and Bank Alfalah provided some support, but failed to reverse the overall downward trend.