The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday was dominated by bears that dragged its benchmark KSE-100 index below 35,000 points level again.

The index had shown a slight upwards movement at the start of the session, gaining 12 points to 35,709 points. However, bears swiftly returned, forcing the index to hit the low of 34,900 points.

The index made a slight recovery but again succumbed to selling pressures, eventually shedding 748 points overall to close at 34,949 — down 2.14 per cent.

As many as 122.8 million shares of benchmark index companies changed hands during the session. The value of shares traded remained at Rs6.9 billion.

Fauji Cement Company Ltd (FCCL) remained the top active stock with 12 million of its shares traded. The value of its shares decreased by 5.19pc. It was followed by the Bank of Punjab (BoP), whose 10.3m shares were traded; the value of its shares decreased by 2.7pc. Unity Foods Ltd (UNITY) was third with 7.9 million of its shares traded, and its value lessening by 6.7pc.

"A wide sell-off was seen at the bourse as investors became weary of holding positions through the upcoming holiday season and opted to reduce their holdings, resulting in the index falling by 748.09 points to close at 34,949.28," said Mohammad Faizan of Next Capital Limited.

"Cement stocks remained under pressure after news reports of disagreements within the cement cartel on the price issue," he said, adding that the prices of cement are expected to remain under pressure.

"The Dera Ghazi Khan Cement (DGKC) lost 4.92pc of its value, while MLCF plunged 4.93pc and FCCL declined 5.19pc," he added.

Market participation for the 100-index companies increased from 94m in the previous session to 122m today, showing a hike of 29pc on a day-on-day basis.