KARACHI: The Pakistan Stocks market witnessed a volatile session on Monday as the participants resorted to profit-taking with relatively lower volumes.

An analyst at Pearl Securities said that the correction in the market was due after a gain of more than 2,000 points and a return of 3.8 per cent last week. Moreover, the international oil prices continued on an upward trajectory hovering around 111/barrel.

“On the economic front, the trade deficit clocked in at $35 billion for the first nine months of fiscal year 2022, where imports soared to $58.88 billion and exports reported at $23 billion signaling a mounting pressure on the current account deficit,” he added.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 shares Index shed 0.13 per cent, or 61.95 points, to close at 46,539.59 points. The KSE-30 shares Index gained 0.20 per cent, or 36.52 points, to close at 17,942.72 points.

Going forward, the analysts expect the market to perform well, therefore suggesting investors adopt the “buy on dip” strategy.

The ready market volumes stood at 255.60 million shares compared with the turnover of 365.78 million shares in the last trading session.

The companies which reflected the highest gains included Rafhan Maize(XD) up Rs100 to close at Rs11,450/share, and Colgate Palm up Rs27.77 to close at Rs2,250/share.

The companies that reflected the most losses included Sapphire Fiber down Rs58.78 to close at Rs901/share, and Gatron Ind down Rs32.49 to close at Rs462.50/share.

The highest volumes were witnessed in G3 Technologies with a turnover of 21.23 million shares. The scrip shed 50 paisas to close at Rs11.70/share, followed by Cnergyico PK with a turnover of 17.78 million shares. It shed 23 paisa to close at Rs6.49/share. WorldCall Telecom remained the third with a turnover of 15.45 million shares. It shed 7 paisas to finish at Rs1.85/share.