The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed some selling pressure on Monday as its benchmark KSE-100 closed the trading session in the red despite a positive start.

On Monday, the KSE-100 hit an intra-day high of 66,119.34, but succumbed to profit-taking in the second half.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 65,755.31, down by 38.45 points or 0.06%.

The earlier buying momentum can be accredited to government formation as the newly formed cabinet members took oath, brokerage house Topline Securities stated in its post-market report.

“However, 66k level has so far proved a quagmire area where bullish forces face tough competition and eventually surrendered 5th time since last week,” it said.

Power, fertiliser, tech, auto & pharma sector contributed positively to the index as HUBC, FFC, PTC, MTL & SEARL added 95 points, cumulatively. On the flip side, DAWH, PSEL & NESTLE saw some selling as they lost 160 points, collectively, according to the brokerage house.

In a key development, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) made public its accounts for the first half of fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23), announcing a massive consolidated loss of Rs9.3 billion during the period ended December 31, 2022.

In the same period of the preceding year, SSGC, which is involved in the transmission and distribution of natural gas in Sindh and Balochistan, saw a loss after tax (PAT) of Rs1.88 billion, according to a notice sent to the PSX on Monday.

In another notice to the bourse, it was announced that Muhammad Aurangzeb had tendered his resignation as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Habib Bank Limited (HBL), following his appointment as a federal minister.

It may be noted that Aurangzeb is likely to be given the portfolio of finance.

Meanwhile, after back-to-back gains, the Pakistani rupee registered a minor loss against the US dollar, depreciating 0.01% in the inter-bank market on Monday. At close, the local unit settled at 279.08, a loss of Re0.04, against the greenback, as per the State Bank of Pakistan.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 548.76 million from 481.70 million a session ago.

However, the value of shares decreased to Rs16.60 billion from Rs16.99 billion in the previous session.

Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with 96.54 million shares, followed by Hascol Petrol with 52.27 million shares, and Kohinoor Spining with 27.34 million shares.

Shares of 357 companies were traded on Monday, of which 220 registered an increase, 118 recorded a fall, while 19 remained unchanged.