KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE-100 Index saw significant dip, losing 620 points due to profit-taking and closing below 86,000 mark.

  Session began on positive note, with index peaking at an intra-day high of 86,520.29, but market sentiment quickly shifted, leading to sell-off that continued until end of day. KSE-100 ultimately settled at 85,585.43, down 620.23 points or 0.72 percent.  Topline Securities noted that decline was primarily driven by profit-taking, particularly in banking and exploration and production sectors, which collectively dragged index down by 348 points.  Pakistan Refinery Limited led trading volumes with 58 million shares. Overall, trading volume on all-share index increased to 513.29 million shares, though total value of shares declined to Rs 21.61 billion from Rs 26.94 billion in previous session. Of 450 companies traded, 173 recorded gains, 208 saw declines and 69 remained unchanged.