The KSE-100 Index staged a dramatic recovery, but still ended negative for the seventh successive session, dropping below the 45,000 level for the first time since May 5 as bearish sentiment continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

A positive start to the day was quickly following by heavy selling pressure that saw the index drop to an intra-day low of 44,341.51, a fall of over 700 points.

However, a sharp recovery in the final 30 minutes saw the index erase almost the entire loss.

At close on Monday, the KSE-100 finished with a decrease of 255.76 points or 0.57% to settle at 44,817.76.

“Higher international commodity prices coupled with an outstanding futures position of Rs12.48 billion marked as delivery resulted in aggressive selling pressure from the participants,” said Topline Securities in its post-market comment.

The index last registered a positive finish on September 16.

In its weekly report earlier, AKD Securities had said the market is likely to remain volatile in the near term with market direction to be determined by the IMF review.

“Reversing certain incentives such as in the case of autos should be viewed as material positive particularly from a macro lens, easing pressure on the external account.”

KSE-100 falls to an over four-month low, decreases for 6th successive session

Sectors dragging the benchmark KSE-100 index lower included banking (93.55 points), technology and communication (37.70 points), and refinery (31.60 points).

Volume on the all-share index decreased marginally from 369.54 million on Friday to 301.39 million on Monday. The value of shares traded also declined marginally during the session, amounting to Rs11.18 billion from Rs11.78 billion on Friday.

Unity Foods Limited was the volume leader with 34.95 million shares, followed by WorldCall Limited with 32.65 million shares, and Byco Petroleum with 32.17 million shares.

Shares of 547 companies were traded on Monday, of which 143 registered an increase, 382 recorded a fall, while 22 remained unchanged.