Stocks witnessed faltering rally on the last trading of the week ahead of Eid holidays. In a lackluster session Pakistan Stock Exchange moved within a narrow range , with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing below 34,000 mark i.e. at 33,836 points level after further shedding 96 points or down by 0.28% from yesterday’s close. In line with the recent trend, the KSE-100 Index started the day on a positive note, accumulating 116.19 points gaining 0.34pc to mark its intraday high at 34,049.00. However, index turned the tide, slipping lower as the day progressed, recording its intraday low at 33,757.37 after shedding 175.44 points. Among other indices, the KMI 30 Index dropped 195.30 points to settle at 55,100.70, whereas the KSE All Share Index added 10.57 points, ending at 24,380.74. Of the total traded shares, 130 advanced and 160 declined. The overall market volumes fell from 165.09 million shares in the last session to 147.21 million shares. Average traded value also declined by 15pc, from $42.7 million to $36.4 million. At Kse-100, total volume traded for the index was 96.34 million shares. Of the 94 traded companies in the Kse-100 Index, 32 scrips edge higher while 60 scrips closed in the negative territory and 2 remained unchanged. Among the scrips, the volume chart was led by TRG Pakistan Limited, followed by Hascol Petroleum Limited and Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited, exchanging 18.38 million, 15.26 million and 7.17 million shares, respectively. Sectors that weighed down the Kse-100 Index included oil & gas marketing by 32.40 points, cement by 30.89 points and banking by 26.70 points. Among the companies, Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited dented the index most, by plucking 15.19 points, followed by Lucky Cement Limited by 13.31 points and DG Khan Cement Company Limited by 11.03 points. Losing 1.46% from its cumulative market cap, the refinery sector turned out to be the biggest loser of the day, with Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited leading the losses, followed by Pakistan Refinery Limited and Attock Refinery Limited. Sectors that propped up the index to post early gains in the session were Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 32 points, Insurance with 11 points, Food & Personal Care Products with 10 points, Textile Spinning with 2 points and Glass & Ceramics with 1 points. Among the companies, Oil & Gas Development Company limited added most points to the index, contributing 18 points followed by NESTLE with 8 points, Pakistan Oilfields Ltd. with 8 points. Global Markets Stocks across the globe trembled after losing momentum, as investors tread cautiously and monitor the developments on potential covid-19 vaccine and economic data after most of the countries edge towards reopening economies. At Wall Street, the stocks lost the steam, as Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 90 points lower, or 0.4%. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% while the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite was down 0.8%. Major technology stocks took a plunge including Amazon, which traded 1.8% lower after hitting a record high earlier in the session. Netflix slid 3.7% while Alphabet and Apple both dipped more than 0.7%. The market sentiments were driven by U.S Labor Department’s report, which announced another 2.4 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week. The latest report brings the total number of filings during the pandemic to more than 38 million. The number of continuing claims was at 25.07 million, its highest level on record. Meanwhile, adding insult to the injury, escalating tensions between China and the U.S. tempered market sentiment. On Wednesday, the Senate passed a bill that could ban Chinese companies such as Alibaba and Baidu from listing on U.S. exchanges. During Thursday’s session Shares of Alibaba dropped 2.8% along with JD.com. Baidu’s U.S.-listed shares dipped 1%. In Europe, major benchmarks retreated after Wednesday’s gains closed after euro zone PMI (purchasing managers’ index) data indicated another slowdown in activity for the region’s manufacturing and services industry in May. IHS Markit euro zone PMI data Thursday morning showed that economic activity contracted less drastically in May, with many countries in the bloc taking steps to reopen their economies. Germany’s DAX index closed 1.41% lower, while France’s CAC 40 dropped 1.15% and Britain’s FTSE 100 edged lower by 0.86%. Asian markets also took a plunge as Mainland Chinese stocks dipped on the day, with Shanghai composite closing 0.55% lower at around 2,867.92. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.49%, as of its final hour of trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.21% lower at 20,552.31 South Korea’s Kospi bucked up the trend to close 0.44% higher at 1,998.31. Investors Interest in Japanese benchmark remained nearly muted as country has officially entered technical recession this week. Additionally, on Thursday Japan’s trade data for April released by the country’s Ministry of Finance showed exports in April plunged 21.9% as compared to a year earlier.