Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) turned bearish for the third straight session on Monday on account of uncertainty over monetary policy as well as energy circular debt and geopolitical tensions, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index losing 1,039.34 points (-1.63 percent) to close at 62,773.72 points. The market opened on a negative note and remained in the red throughout the session. The Monetary Policy Committee meeting, which was slated for Monday, drew the attention of investors throughout the session. The central bank decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 22 percent for the fifth consecutive meeting. The benchmark index has shed 2,048.77 points during the last three sessions. Market experts attributed the dip in the stocks to the circular debt in the energy sector and the interim government’s efforts about a settlement plan. They said that investors will keep a close watch on what the caretaker government can push through before elections, especially progress on circular debt settlement, which whipsawed OGDC and PPL last week. They said there is room for significant gains in the market if elections and a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) program are navigated smoothly. The benchmark index traded in a range of 1,075.13 points, showing an intraday high of 63,792.84 points and an intraday low of 62,717.71 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 535.66 points (-1.26 percent) to close at 42,677.44 points. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index shed 521.75 points (-1.68 percent) to close at 31,015.63 points. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index decreased by 50.26 million to 162.23 million shares against 212.49 million shares in the previous session. Similarly, the overall market volumes decreased by 95.24 million shares to 317.58 million shares against 412.82 million shares traded a session earlier. Among scrips, KEL topped the volumes with 46.69 million shares, followed by PIAA (22.94 million) and WTL (21.48 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included KEL, PIAA, WTL, PTC, and TREET, which formed over 38 percent of total volumes. A total of 347 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 341 in the previous session, out of which shares of 72 closed up, shares of 253 companies closed down while shares of 22 companies remained unchanged. A total of 94 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 96 companies in the previous session, out of which share prices of 18 companies closed up, 74 companies closed down and two remained unchanged. The number of total trades decreased to 143,251 from 167,655 a session earlier, while the value traded decreased by Rs5.5 billion to Rs10.69 billion from Rs16.19 billion a session earlier. In terms of rupee, UPFL remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs1,000 (+4.65 percent) per share, closing at Rs22,500. The runner-up remained SFL, the share price of which climbed up by Rs97 (+6.55 percent) to Rs1,577. MARI remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs99.21 (-4.05 percent) per share, closing at Rs2,353.16, followed by SIEM, the share price of which fell by Rs26.37 (-4.23 percent) to close at Rs597.62 per share. The major sectors taking the index towards south remained oil & gas exploration companies (244 points), fertilizer (190 points), commercial banks (172 points), technology and communication (78 points), power generation and distribution and oil & gas marketing companies (74 points each), cement (37 points), pharmaceutical (30 points), textile composite (25 points), automobile assemblers and automobile parts and accessories (21 points each), refinery and chemicals (15 points each), paper and board (11 points), food and personal care products (10 points), refinery (11 points), and cables and electric goods (8 points). Ten major companies depriving the index of points remained EFERT (53 points), PPL (52 points), MARI (44 points), OGDC (41 points), HUBC (31 points), MEBL (30 points), ENGRO (29 points), PSO (24 points), SYS (21 points), and HBL (20 points). The major sectors taking the index towards north were tobacco (14 points), insurance (6 points), engineering (4 points), and investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies (3 points). Ten major companies adding points to the index remained BAHL (15 points), PAKT (8 points), UPFL (6 points), SNBL, HABSM and INDU (5 points each), SFL(4 points), AICL and TBL (3 points each), and SBL (2 points).