KARACHI: The Pakistan bourse witnessed a volatile session on Tuesday due to political unrest and overheated commodities cycle, as the market opened in the red zone and stayed under pressure throughout the day.

The cement sector stayed in the red zone due to the mounting international coal prices, while in the last trading hour, across the board selling was witnessed, an analyst at Arif Habib Limited said.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index shed 0.90 per cent, or 388.62 points, to close at 42,878.35 points. The KSE-30 shares Index shed 0.93 per cent, or 155.82 points, to close at 16,668.91 points.

As many as 343 scrips were active of which 102 advanced, 223 declined and 18 remained unchanged.

The ready market volumes stood at 226.10 million shares, compared with the turnover of 236.88 million shares in the last trading session.

“The stocks fell across the board on political uncertainty as the opposition submits the no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister coupled with the ongoing global equity selloff. The uncertainty over the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) policy announcement today and rupee instability played a catalyst role in bearish close,” Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib said.

The companies which reflected the highest gains included Rafhan Maize up Rs200 to close at Rs11,999/share, and Sapphire Fiber up Rs56.76 to close at Rs880.01/share.

The companies that reflected the most losses included Nestle Pakistan down Rs140 to close at Rs5,400/share, and Bata (Pak) down Rs57.51 to close at Rs2,092.49/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in TPL Corp Ltd with a turnover of 17.35 million shares. The scrip shed Re1 to close at Rs10.46/share, followed by Unity Foods Ltd with a turnover of 17.18 million shares. It shed Rs1.49 to close at Rs23.64/share. Ghani Glo Hol remained the third with a turnover of 16.90 million shares. It shed 87 paisas to finish at Rs15.83/share.