The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a sharp decline on Thursday as the benchmark KSE-100 Index fell by 1,991 points, closing at 110,423 points. This marks a 1.8% drop from the previous day’s closing, driven by strong selling pressure in the market.

The decline follows a volatile week for the stock market. On Monday, the KSE-100 Index had surged by 4,411 points, but profit-taking on Tuesday led to a 1,509-point drop. Thursday’s losses further extended the downward trend, reflecting investor caution.

Selling pressure was observed in key sectors including cement, commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks including NRL, HUBCO, SSGC, SNGP, MARI, OGDC, POL, ENGRO, HBL, MEBL and NBP traded in the red.

Trading activity also saw a decline, with 628.03 million shares traded during the day, compared to 880.59 million shares on the previous trading session. The total value of shares traded stood at Rs. 33.58 billion, significantly lower than Rs. 54.45 billion recorded on Tuesday.

Out of 450 companies that traded shares, 113 recorded gains, 284 suffered losses, and 53 remained unchanged.