The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday managed to land in the green, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 88 points to close at 43,829.
The benchmark index showed mixed activity during the initial hours of trading, touching the day's high of 43,875 points and then sliding into the red for most of the session and touching a day's low of 43,655 points.
Volumes showed a significant decline, as 137 million shares worth Rs5.9 billion changed hands compared to 229.9m shares worth Rs9.6b traded on the last trading day.
Of the 352 traded scrips, 161 advanced, 173 declined and 18 remained unchanged.
Overall, the chemicals sector dominated trading with 27.9m shares traded, while cements and communications scrips followed with 17.2m and 13.4m shares changing hands.
A JS Global report held political uncertainty responsible for the lacklustre session. "Most of the dull activity can be attributed to political uncertainty and lack of positive triggers," it read.
"As the market struggled to find a clear direction all day, a few select stocks — including Habib Bank Limited and Lucky Cement — came to the rescue in late trading and added 65 points to KSE100 Index," an Elixir Securities report said.
Turnover in the wider market clocked in just under $55m, down 29 per cent, it added.
Volumes were led by:
Unity Foods Ltd: 10.2m shares traded [+5.00pc];
WorldCall Telecom: 9.0m shares traded [+1.21pc];
Agritech Limited: 8.1m shares traded [+1.50pc];
Fauji Cement: 7.5m shares traded [+3.85pc];
Engro Polymer: 7.1m shares traded [+4.04pc].
