After a four-session losing streak, the Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index ended marginally positive, but only after another volatile trading session on Wednesday.
The KSE-100 initially opened on a negative note and hit an intra-day low of 40,135, down 253 points. However, some buying interest kicked in near the 40,000 level, helping stocks regain some lost ground.
At close on Wednesday, the benchmark KSE-100 settled at 40,459.70, a gain of 70.63 points or 0.17%.
The positive finish comes after a bloodbath was witnessed on Tuesday when the benchmark index ended the trading session 978 points lower as ongoing political uncertainty followed by Fitch Ratings' downgrade of Pakistan's outlook added to investors' woes.
“The uncertainty caused by political turmoil and depreciation of Pakistani Rupee against US dollar kept investors away from the market,” said Capital Stake in a post-market comment on Wednesday.
Moreover, on the economic front, the rupee remained under pressure against the US dollar, closing at 224.91 in the inter-bank market, a depreciation of 1.3% or Rs2.93 on Wednesday. This is now the lowest closing level for the currency, beating the one it registered on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, sectors driving the benchmark KSE 100 index upwards included oil and gas exploration (73.27 points), banking (29.02 points) and oil and gas marketing (15.85 points).
Volume on the all-share index declined to 141.75 million from 194.87 million on Tuesday. The value of shares traded also decreased to Rs4.98 billion from Rs5.78 billion recorded in the previous session.
TPL Properties was the volume leader with 13.37 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 10.76 million shares, and Cnergyico PK with 7.95 million shares.
Shares of 325 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 136 registered an increase, 169 recorded a fall, and 20 remained unchanged.
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