The KSE-100 failed to carry forward the positive momentum from the previous session, closing negative on Thursday as range-bound trading continued amid much lower volume at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

At close on Thursday, the benchmark-100 index finished with a decrease of 106.62 points or 0.23% to end at 47,270.76. The index has stayed in the range of 47,000-48,000 for around a month now as lack of positive triggers, and uncertainty over Pakistan's Covid-19 situation continue to worry investors.

The index registered an intra-day high of 47,555.99, but profit-booking again resulted in pressure with the index falling below the 47,200 level.

Meezan Bank Limited remained a stock of interest, closing up 3.22% as the bank announced 2Q2021 EPS of Rs4.6 up 5 % year-on-year, and higher than industry expectation, along with a dividend of Rs1.5 and 15% bonus shares.

Stocks stage rally as KSE-100 gains 242 points

Sectors dragging the benchmark KSE 100 index lower included oil and gas marketing (21.86 points), power generation and distribution (18.36 points), and pharmaceutical (16.55 points).

Volume on the all-share index declined significantly from 382.64 million on Wednesday to 230.17 million on Thursday. The value of shares traded during the session also shrunk to Rs11.54 billion, from Rs15.71 billion on Wednesday.

TRG Pak Limited remained the volume leader with 19.22 million shares, followed by Ghani Global Holdings with 15.07 million shares, and WorldCall Telecom at 11.81 million shares.

Shares of 458 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 106 registered an increase, 329 recorded a fall, while 23 remained unchanged.