KARACHI: Pakistan equities closed in red on Thursday, while the rest of the market enjoyed across-the-board profits. The KSE-100 index dropped 345.81 points to close at 49,481.7. However, the market was struggling to find clear direction until midday when the benchmark KSE100 Index traded on a narrow margin, followed by a reported sell-offby local institutional investors. This prompted a steady decline, with Index testing support approaching49,500. Almost all key sectors closed lower. Major sector losses suffered are: Pharmas -1.49 percent, Consumer Staples -1.35 percent and Energy -1.09 percent.Pakistan Petroleum yielded profits after its earnings came inline with estimates. Though material information of hydrocarbon discovery released during the day failed to wield positive impact. By contrast, Hub Power recovered from the day’s low to close with little fluctuation despite announcing below expected earnings, analysts at Elixir Securities commented. Also on Thursday, shares of 389 companies were traded, of which share value of 177 gained, 189 declined and 23 remained unchanged.On the volume leaders’ chart Engro Polymer surged ahead with 36 million shares traded followed by Aisha Steel Mill (27 million), Azgard Nine (27 million), Summit Bank (25 million) and, Power Cement (24 million). Analysts say they expect the market to recover in the days ahead as savvy investors jump in to take advantage of the current weakness, cherry picking value plays including stocks that are slated for inclusion in the MSCI EM Index. PSX publishes Investor Awareness Guide: The Pakistan Stock Exchange Limited (PSX) on Thursday published an Investor Awareness Guide in both English and Urdu. The move is aimed at educating public investors about their rights and obligations, while guiding them towards prudence when trading in securities listed at PSX. The guide explains significant measures implemented by Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, PSX, Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited and National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited to protect the rights and interests of investors, while safeguarding their assets. PSX has advised capital market investors to read the Investor Awareness Guide, which can be found on their website: www.psx.com.pk. “Further, the TRE Certificate Holders are hereby required to prominently place the Investor Awareness Guideon their official website, while ensuring its distribution (both English and Urdu versions) to new account holders as well as to existing customers within three months from the date of this notice”, the PSX said.