The bourse in Pakistan underwent consolidation in Thursday’s session. The KSE100 index lost 102 points at the closing bell to settle at 45,989.

Both sellers and buyers were active during trading today causing the index to remain range bound. The market took off to a positive start however selling pressure caused the index to drop into the negative after midday.

The exchange in Pakistan continues to perform exceptionally due to a number of positive economic indicators. Pakistan is now at a much more comfortable external account position as the State Bank’s reserve continue to show an increasing trend. Industry outlook has also improved due to reassertion by the government towards resolution of the circular debt.

Equity markets across the globe were seen trading cautiously in view of the second impeachment of President Donald Trump in the United States. Wall street was able to shrug off selling pressure due to a fall in U.S. yields. A fall in yields makes equities a more promising investment. Oil prices succumbed to pressure as Covid-19 cases continue to rise across the world.

At the closing bell 177 companies had advanced with 210 closing in the red. 15 scrips remained unchanged.

Market participation for the KSE100 Index decreased to 286M from 466M in the previous session (-38% on d/d basis). Major contribution to total market volume came from HUMNL, KEL and FFBL combined for 129M shares out of the total market volume of 620M shares.