After massive selling pressure witnessed in the previous session, Pakistan stocks endured another volatile ride on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index recovering from an over 550-point fall to end marginally negative.

On Wednesday, the KSE-100 Index lost 674 points to fall below the 45,000 level as rising number of Covid cases and high oil prices took a toll on investor sentiment.

The selling pressure persisted as the KSE-100 opened on a negative note on Thursday, and hit an intra-day low at 44,274, down 559 points.

However, value hunting helped stocks recover with the index then climbing in the final hour of trading.

At close on Thursday, the KSE-100 finished at 44,825.97, a decrease of 7.46 points or 0.04%.

"Bearish momentum was witnessed due to alarming Covid-19 cases and higher international oil prices," said Arif Habib Limited in a note.

"The main board activity remained gloomy. On the flip-side, activity continued to remain side-ways as market witnessed hefty volumes in the third-tier stocks. In the last trading hour, across-the-board buying was observed as shoe-sellers jumped in to square-off positions."

KSE-100 falls 1.48% as Covid cases, high oil prices dent sentiment

Volumes increased marginally, clocking in at 254.21 million on the all-share index, up from 236.93 million on Wednesday. The value of shares traded decreased though to Rs7.74 billion, down from Rs8.66 billion a day ago.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 27.95 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK Limited with 18.84 million shares, and Ghani Global Holdings with 17.50 million shares.

Shares of 348 companies were traded on Thursday, of which only 169 registered an increase, 158 recorded a fall, and 21 remained unchanged.