The Pakistan Stock Exchange closed Wednesday's trading session back in the red, with the benchmark KSE-100 index losing nearly 33 points, or 0.07 per cent, by market close to reach 49,331.54.

178 million shares of KSE-100 companies changed hands during the day, with a total worth of nearly Rs11.8 billion. Nearly 380m shares in total were traded on the PSX during the day, with a total worth of Rs16.5bn.

Overall, stocks of 409 companies were traded on the exchange on Wednesday, of which 90 gained in value, 304 declined and 15 remained unchanged.

Volumes were led by:

1. K-Electric Ltd: 56.83m shares traded (-1.63pc);

2. Aisha Steel Mill: 34.22m shares traded (-4.69pc);

3. Power Cement Ltd: 24.57m shares traded (-4.79pc);

4. Bank Al-Falah: 16.16m shares traded (+1.97pc); and,

5. TRG Pak Ltd: 14.42m shares traded (-1.33pc).

“While the bourse traded green for most of the day, news broke of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) handing over brokers’ investigation to the National Accountability Bureau, along with a raid on the Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) office, which resulted in a 550-point dip,” recounted Hammad Aman, an analyst at Topline Securities.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti said pressure remained on blue-chip oil stocks amid concerns for foreign outflows, surging circular debt in the energy sector, and dismal payouts in the earnings season.

“Institutional support in blue-chip banking, fertilizer and cement stocks supported the index to close above session lows,” he added.

Nabeel Haroon from JS Global said the selling pressure in the market was on the back of political uncertainty.

“We expect the market to remain volatile and recommend investors to stay cautious in the ongoing futures rollover week,” he said.