The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced a bearish session on Tuesday, with overall market capitalisation eroding by nearly PKR 39 billion as benchmark indices closed in negative territory amid reduced trading volumes.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index retreated by 130.44 points, or 0.08 per cent, to settle at 171,073.73. The index fluctuated during the session, touching an intraday high of 171,867.32 before succumbing to selling pressure and hitting a low of 170,968.31.
Similarly, the KSE-30 Index, which tracks the performance of the top 30 blue-chip companies, registered a decline. It lost 86.08 points, or 0.16 per cent, to end the day at 52,237.50.
The negative sentiment resulted in a significant drop in investor wealth, as the total market capitalisation decreased to PKR 19.396 trillion from PKR 19.435 trillion on the previous trading day, a contraction of approximately PKR 38.8 billion.
Trading activity also witnessed a downturn. The total turnover in the regular market was recorded at 650.13 million shares, a noticeable decrease from the 684.54 million shares traded a day earlier.
Reflecting the subdued investor participation, the value of shares traded in the regular market also contracted, falling to PKR 28.25 billion compared to the previous session”s PKR 30.10 billion.