Staff Reporter Karachi
Bears maintained their control over the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday, in line with the preceding session, as political tensions fuelled selling pressure across the board ahead of Senate elections.
The Supreme Court (SC) said polls for the upper house would be held according to Article 226 of the Constitution and through a secret ballot.
Uncertainty in international crude oil market coupled with projections of monthly inflation data also fuelled the bearish momentum.
The benchmark KSE-100 index, following a positive open, crawled downwards. However, some of the losses were wiped off later and bears and bulls continued to wrestle for control of the market for the rest of the session.
At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 271.59 points, or 0.59%, to settle at 45,593.43 points.
Among the few stocks that traded positive included Shabbir Tiles and Ceramics, Mughal Iron and Steel Industries, Attock Refinery, and National Refinery.
In the last half hour, investors resorted to brisk buying and the index ended the day lower by 272 points.
Sectors contributing to the performance included banks (-103 points), textile (-27 points), pharmaceutical (-26 points), power (-23 points), technology (-19 points) and chemical (+22 points).
Individually, stocks that contributed positively to the index included Engro Polymer and Chemicals (+18 points), Colgate-Palmolive (+12 points), Pakistan Tobacco (+9 points), Lucky Cement (+8 points), and Azgard Nine (+6 points).
