KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) snapped the four-session winning spell on Friday and the KSE-100 Index fell 75.32 points.
Trading began on a mixed note however, the KSE-100 Index rose steadily in the first session to close 136 points up. Selling pressure gripped the market in the second session and it erased all gains. Few attempts made by investors to lift the market upward proved futile and KSE-100 closed with a loss.
Widespread pessimism caused automobile, cement, chemical and oil sectors to close in the red. Banking sector however, ended at a mixed note.
Sectors dragging the benchmark KSE-100 Index lower included oil and gas exploration (40.11 points), technology and communication (26.26 points) and investment banking (18.58 points).
Volume on the all-share index retreated to 313.3 million from 442.6 million on Thursday. On the other hand, the value of shares traded dipped to Rs9.42 billion from Rs13.7 billion recorded in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 83.5 million shares, followed by Telecard Limited with 44.2 million shares and The Organic Meat Company with 9.9 million shares
Shares of 344 companies were traded on Friday, of which 134 registered an increase, 187 recorded a fall, and 23 remained unchanged.