Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed a bearish session on Monday as the benchmark KSE-100 index lost around 610 points amid uncertainty surrounding peace talks between Iran and the United States.
The KSE-100 index closed at 170,506.31 points, down 609.51 points or 0.36 percent from the previous close of 171,115.82.
Market remains volatile during trading
The market experienced significant volatility throughout the session.
The benchmark index touched an intraday high of 171,304.10 points and a low of 169,583.44 points.
According to analysts at Topline Securities Limited, investor sentiment remained fragile due to the absence of concrete progress in negotiations and continuing geopolitical uncertainty.
The market reportedly plunged by as much as 1,532 points during intraday trading before recovering part of the losses by the close of business.
Index-heavy stocks drag market lower
Analysts said major index-heavy stocks contributed significantly to the decline in the benchmark index.
Stocks including United Bank Limited, Lucky Cement, Engro Holdings, Meezan Bank and National Bank of Pakistan collectively dragged the market down by 667 points.
Trading activity remains strong
Despite the negative close, overall market participation remained healthy.
Total traded volume reached 1.103 billion shares, while market turnover stood at Rs31 billion.
K-Electric led the volume chart with trading of 376 million shares during the session.
Analysts said investors are likely to remain cautious in coming sessions as geopolitical developments continue to influence regional and global financial markets.