KARACHI: Stocks closed almost flat in thin trading on the last day of the year 2013, as investors opted to stay on the sidelines. The KSE-100 index closed down by 22.82 points at 25,261.14.

The lacklustre final session of the year on Tuesday saw stocks displaying intra-day movement of high and low in a narrow range of 100 points with all the top-10 volume leaders that comprised second and third tier stocks saw price change in the band of as little as one paisa to 35 paisa.

Although the figures released by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan showed active participation by the local individuals and institutional investors, analysts said that on-balance, the market remained at about the same level.

Many institutional and retail investors chose to sit on cash until the end of holiday season, when foreign institutional participation could start to pick up, that they hoped could fuel another round of bullish market.

Dealers at Sherman Securities said that the market remained dull as investors closed their positions for the year. Textile, cement and banking sectors performed and led the volume.

Market may show pressure because inflation number due on Wednesday, which would be followed by the SBP Monetary Policy Statement.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp stated that stocks fell on institutional profit taking in selected stocks across the board. Falling foreign exchange reserves, rising circular debt in energy sector impacted the sentiments despite expectations for improved textile and cement exports next year.

Limited foreign interest and impact of gas shortfall for industrial sector played a catalyst role in bearish activity at KSE.

Analyst Asad Siddiqui at Topline Securities commented that the last day of the market witnessed lacklustre activity.