Karachi: Selling pressure was witnessed at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as benchmark KSE-100 index lost 466 points during trading. KSE-100 started session positive, hitting an intra-day high of 76,187.45.

However, index soon witnessed selling that pushed index into negative territory. At close, benchmark index settled at 75,517.49, down by 465.55 points or 0.61 percent. Selling was witnessed in key sectors including cement, chemical, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. Index-heavy stocks including OGDC, PPL, PSO, SNGPL and NBP were in negative. Experts said that negativity comes amid uncertainty regarding government measures in upcoming budget. Volume on all-share index decreased to 446.07 million from 609.85 million session ago. Value of shares declined to Rs 16.40 billion from Rs 23.58 billion in previous session. K-Electric Ltd was volume leader with 55.6 million shares, followed by Symmetry Group Ltd with 40.66 million shares and WorldCall Telecom with 29.46 million shares. Shares of 406 companies were traded on Monday, of which 123 registered an increase, 231 recorded fall while 52 remained unchanged. Globally, Asian shares edged higher on Monday as investors braced for busy week of data which culminates in key US inflation report that could set stage for cut in interest rates there, albeit not for few months yet. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.4 percent, having slipped 1.5 percent last week and away from two-year peak.