Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed lower on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index falling below the 41,000-point mark after losing 431 points, or 1.04 per cent.

Trading began on a positive note, hitting 41,478 in the first half, but then slumped to 40,686 before recovering slightly to close at 40,959.

147.33 million stocks worth Rs8.58 billion were traded during the day with only 67 symbols growing in value. The stocks of 279 companies declined while seven remained unchanged.

Commercial banks were the most-traded commodity on the market for the second day in a row while technology and textile sectors followed with 18.1m and 14.6m shares traded respectively.

Volumes were led by:

TRG Pak Ltd: 15.8m shares traded [+3.57pc]

Azgard Nine: 11.0m shares traded [-0.37pc]

Habib BankXD: 8.3m shares traded [-4.62pc]

Engro Polymer: 6.4m shares traded [-4.95pc]

K-Electric Ltd: 5.2m shares traded [+0.82pc]