Karachi: Negativity persisted at Pakistan Stock Exchange as benchmark KSE-100 Index fell below 47,000 level. KSE-100 remained in red for most of session amid fears of policy rate hike by central bank and concerns related to rupee's free fall against dollar. At close, benchmark index settled at 46,770.42, down by 708.19 points or 1.49 percent.

Volume on all-share index increased to 217.85 million from 184.13 million on Monday. Value of shares rose to Rs 8.281 billion from Rs 6.465 billion in previous session. WorldCall Telecom remained volume leader with 27.409 million shares followed by K-Electric Ltd. with 14.732 million shares and Dewan Motors with 9.55 million shares. Shares of 328 companies were traded of which 62 registered an increase, 244 recorded fall and 22 remained unchanged.

Across-the-board selling was witnessed, with index-heavy sectors including automobile assemblers, chemical, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refinery sector trading in red zone.

On Monday, KSE-100 Index closed lower by nearly 200 points, weighed down by collective pessimism over rupee's record fall and lack of positive triggers. Experts said negative economic indicators were playing on minds of investors, leading to bearish sentiment in market.

Published in The Daily National Courier, August, 30 2023

Like Business on Facebook, follow @DailyNCourier on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.