The Pakistan Stock Exchange commenced the week on a negative note, with the benchmark KSE-100 index dropping 487.25 points, or 0.99 per cent, to close below the 49,000 points barrier at 48,521.

The market had opened on a moderately positive note, touching a day's high of 49,081 points within the first few minutes of trading. However, the bears returned shortly, dragging the index to a day's low of 48,490 points.

Take a look: Another volatile week on PSX

95 million shares of indexed companies changed hands in the Monday session, with a total worth of nearly Rs8.32 billion.

Overall, 251m shares were traded on the PSX, with a total worth of nearly Rs11.6bn.

407 scrips were traded on the exchange, of which only 65 gained in value, 325 declined and 17 remained unchanged.

Volumes were led by engineering and commercial banks, with chemicals, cement and oil and gas marketing scrips rounding off the top five sectors traded.

Volumes were led by:

• Aisha Steel Mill: 25m shares traded (-4.99pc);

• Lotte Chemical: 18.6m shares traded (+4.68pc);

• B.O.Punjab: 15m shares traded (-4.15pc);

• Sui North Gas: 11.28m shares traded (-4.39pc); and,

• Azgard Nine: 9.11m shares traded (-5.26pc);

Senior analyst Ahsan Mehanti said that stocks closed lower on “pressure [...] across the board on concerns for outcome of regulatory action over defaulting brokerages.”

Sentiment also weakened in the session on renewed concerns for foreign outflows, surging circular debt in the energy sector and dismal payouts in the earnings season, he added.

He said that the surging trade deficit, reports of falling exports, and consolidation post major earnings announcements also played a role in the bearish close.

Another analyst, Hammad Aman, said the local bourse could not withstand political uncertainty and regulatory strictness.

He said the steel sector particularly came under pressure as unconfirmed reports surfaced of courts granting interim relief to steel importers by way of temporarily suspending the collection of an anti-dumping duty while the case is heard.

"The KSE-100 index continued its decline as the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan's strict measures on in-house financing sapped liquidity from the market. Moreover, as month end looms, the rush to clear out debit balances further magnified the selling pressure," said Fahad Qasim, analyst at Topline Securities.