Staff Reporter
Karachi
Despite a host of positive triggers, the benchmark KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) succumbed to the pressure to sell and dropped 185 points in a turbulent session on Tuesday.
Trading began on a bullish note as strong investor interest lifted the market nearly 300 points in the first few hours. However, the buying momentum could not be sustained and a selling spree, emerging towards midday, weighed on the bourse, erasing the gains and dragging the index downwards.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 184.89 points, or 0.43%, to close at 42,346.42 points.
Engro faced selling pressure due to it being ex-dividend, however, prospects of increase in prices of fertiliser kept buying interest alive.
Cement sector stocks performed well during the session on the back of increase in cement prices in the northern region, however, profit-booking brought the prices down again. Oil and gas marketing companies topped the volumes with trading in 74.2 million shares, followed by cement firms (74.1 million) and power companies (63.4 million).
