Bearish sentiments prevailed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) amid uncertainty over resumption of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index ended with a loss of over 202 points on Wednesday.

The indices slipped lower for most part of the trading session, as the benchmark index reached an intra-day low of 39,868.99, a decrease of over 213 points. At close, it settled at 39,879.89, a fall of 202.48 points or 0.51%.

PSX witnesses range-bound session, KSE-100 closes marginally higher

A report from Arif Habib Limited (AHL) stated that the benchmark index opened in the red territory but traded in both directions during the trading session.

It said investors are still waiting for the IMF to release the long overdue tranche.

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It added that “participation remained sluggish in main board as cautious approach is adopted by players drying up volumes whereas 3rd tier stocks continued to lead the volume board.”

On the economic front, the rupee declined against the US dollar and depreciated Re0.37 or 0.13% in the inter-bank market on Wednesday to settle at 283.92.

Sectors dragging the benchmark KSE-100 index lower included banking (50.21 points), miscellaneous (31.81 points) and technology and communication (23.43 points).

Volume on the all-share index increased to 108.8 million from 87.2 million on Tuesday. However, the value of shares traded declined to Rs3.2 billion from Rs3.3 billion recorded in the previous session.

Telecard Limited was the volume leader with 12.4 million shares followed by WorldCall Telecom with 9.4 million shares and Pakistan Aluminium Beverage Cans Limited with 7.6 million shares.

Shares of 303 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 72 registered an increase, 194 recorded a fall and 37 remained unchanged.