A bearish trend drove the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday, taking the benchmark KSE-100 Index down 781 points to 40,324 by market close.

Some positive movement was witnessed in the first few minutes of the session, during which the benchmark hit the day's high of 41,173 points. The benchmark, however, failed to sustain the momentum and fell prey to bears, who continued their rout through to the end of the session. The market touched a day's low of 40,258 points near market close.

Volumes slipped to 98.7 million shares, valued at around Rs6.3 billion. Of the 358 traded symbols, 78 advanced, 261 declined and 19 remained unchanged.

"Political noise continued to dent sentiments with investors spooked on rumors of a rift in the ruling PML-N and possible early elections as its top brass, including ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and current PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi huddled in London to decide on the future course of action," noted Elixir Securities.

The textile sector dominated the market with around 10.6m shares traded. Banking scrips and the communication sector followed with 9.7m and 8.7m shares traded, respectively.

Volumes were led by:

• Nishat (Chun.): 6.9m shares traded [-4.99pc];

• Sui North Gas: 6.2m shares traded [-3.61pc];

• Pak Elektron: 5.3m shares traded [-4.81pc];

• TRG Pak Ltd: 5.3m shares traded [-4.84pc];

• Power Cement: 4.3m shares traded [-4.18pc].