Profit-taking was witnessed in the second half of the trading session, overshadowing the bullish momentum at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) with the benchmark KSE-100 Index falling below the 49,000 level on Thursday.

Earlier during the day, the benchmark index hit an intra-day high of 49,404.50, an increase of nearly 640 points.

However, investors resorted to consolidating gains and booked profits, dragging the benchmark lower.

At close on Thursday, the KSE-100 Index ended at 48,611.18, a decrease of 153.37 points or 0.31%.

A day earlier, the KSE-100 Index benchmark had hit a six-year high to settle at 48,764.55.

Buying continued in index-heavy sectors including cement, chemical, commercial banks, pharmaceuticals, and OMCs, while automobile assemblers and oil and gas exploration companies remain mixed. The index breached the 49,000 level for the first time in over six years, a significant milestone for the PSX that has remained under pressure for years owing to different factors including political uncertainty, pandemic, and economic distress in Pakistan.

However, intra-day profit-taking dragged the index in the red zone, bringing an end to a 10-session positive run that had come on the back of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). Despite the minor setback, the index has still added nearly 18% since the staff-level agreement.

On the economic front, the Pakistani rupee broke a three-session losing streak, gaining 0.76% on Thursday.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 526 million from 556.1 million on Wednesday. The value of shares traded also decreased to Rs19.03 billion from Rs19.98 billion in the previous session.

Cnergyico PK remained the volume leader with 33.2 million shares, followed by K-Electric with 25.43 million shares and OGDC with 24.5 million shares.

Shares of 367 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 129 registered an increase, 216 recorded a fall, and 22 remained unchanged.