The Pakistan Stock Exchange remained range bound during Thursday’s session. The KSE100 index closed 20 points in the positive to reach 42,047.

Trading took off to a positive start however the gains could not be maintained. By midday the KSE100 index began its decline to and finally settled near its starting point at the closing bell. Technical indicators point towards consolidation after a number of big gains during the previous sessions.

The energy and petroleum sector could be seen struggling after expectation of a drop in oil prices. This sector has a number of index heavy weights which cause the overall index to lag in case of pressure in the sector.

Markets globally can be seen taking a breather after posting stellar gains earlier in the week. The Coronavirus surge in many countries is throwing a bit of a cloud over global economic recovery. Successful vaccines and their approval by regulatory bodies is seen as hope on the horizon.

At the closing bell 186 companies closed in the red with 166 scrips advancing. 14 companies remained unchanged.

Market participation for the KSE100 Index increased to 240M from 281M in the previous session (-15% on d/d basis). Major contribution to total market volume came from TRG, MLCF and ASL combined for a total of 96M shares out of the total market volume of 420M shares.