PSX endures pressure; index dips 803 points

Pakistan's stock market came under selling pressure on Tuesday as its main index lost over 800 points due to profit-taking by investors and caution ahead of monetary policy announcement next week. Concern among market players about economic growth outlook and a fall in international crude prices pulled the market down in a volatile trading session. Though the KSE-100 index started off the day on a positive note, reaching its intra-day high at 116,424.85 points very soon, it dived afterwards and erased all the earlier gains. The index recovered significantly, but after midday it could not sustain the momentum and dipped to the intra-day low of 114,783.72 towards the end of trading. "Stocks closed under pressure amid consolidation in the earnings season and slump in global crude oil prices," said Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp.