Pakistan stock exchange (PSX) continued to witness a bullish trend on Thursday, as Kse-100 lost 69.89 points by the session closing to clock at 41,806.37 index level. On Thursday, the kse-100 index witnessed a volatile trading session as it oscillated between negative and positive territory. The index remained under pressure throughout the trading session as it declined over 400 points in the early hours of trading, but later recovered following investors interest driven by attractive values of stocks. Apart from the index being in a consolidation phase, the trading activity has also been knocked by the rollover week, wherein phenomenal activities of offloading the stocks purchased earlier at attractive valuation has kicks in. The market expects massive selloff in the ongoing week, to cover their positions and opt for profit-taking. On Thursday, in a volatile session the KSE-100 Index registered its intraday low at low at 41,416.90 after losing 459.36 points. The index volumes slightly increased from 251.51 million shares recorded in the previous session to 272.44 million shares, but the overall market volumes decreased from 582.79 million shares in the previous session to 434.89 million shares. The volume chart was led by K-Electric Limited followed by Unity Foods Limited and Hascol Petroleum Limited. The scrips exchanged 40.53 million, 33.18 million and 32.14 million shares, respectively. Sectors which dragged down the index were Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 86 points, Food & Personal Care Products with 20 points, Power Generation & Distribution with 16 points, Technology & Communication with 14 points and Automobile Assembler with 12 points. Among the scrips, most points taken off the index was by Oil & Gas Development Company Limited which stripped the index of 48 points followed by Pakistan Petroleum Limited with 33 points, TRG Pakistan Limited with 20 points, NESTLE with 14 points and Bank AlFalah Limited with 11 points. Sectors, which continued resist the pressure and added value to the index were Fertilizer with 69 points, Cement with 18 points, Insurance with 9 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 5 points and Pharmaceuticals with 5 points. Among the scrips, most points added to the index was by Engro Corporation Limited which contributed 36 points followed by Engro Fertilizers Limited with 24 points, Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited with 15 points, Lucky Cement Limited with 15 points and Pakistan State Oil with 14 points. Global markets: Covid-19 resurgence takes toll on investors’ confidence Global stocks pulled back on Thursday following mounting concerns over the resurgence of coronavirus as hopes for economic recovery falters. In Asia, stock markets plunged across the board as investors treaded cautiously following escalating tensions in the Korean peninsula. In a recent spate of events, South Korea’s defense ministry said North Korea had killed a missing official from the South earlier this week. It marked the first time since July 2008 that a South Korean civilian has been shot dead in North Korea. The news flow of tensions sent South Korea’s Kospi index plummeting 2.59% to close at 2,272.7. Among other bourses, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.82% to close at 23,311.07, while Chinese stocks also slipped on the day, with the Shanghai composite down 1.72% to approximately 3,223.18. In Japan, Nikkei 225 followed the regional trend, and fell 1.11% to finish its trading day at 23,087.82. European stock markets also retreated on Thursday, over rising fears of slow economic recovery, as many governments are announcing new lockdown restrictions, or a slowing of reopenings, as they deal with a significant uptick in Covid-19 cases. The sentiments took a hit, after data out this week showed Euro zone business activity growth slowed in September, with IHS Markit’s preliminary euro zone composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) reading coming in below expectations at 50.1, down from 51.9 in August. A reading above 50 represents expansion. Moreover, the services sector went into reverse in September, offsetting the strongest monthly manufacturing growth for two years, as governments across Europe reintroduced partial restrictions to curb a rise in coronavirus cases. Following the data release, Markets across the region posted losses, with UK’s FTSE-100 leading the losses, which closed 1.41% lower. Among other major bourses,CAC-40 in France and Germany’s DAX also edged lower, closing 0.92% and 0.45% lower. In U.S, stocks witnessed a mixed trading session at Wall Street, as investors grappled with a lack of new fiscal stimulus, which several economists and the Federal Reserve argue is needed for the economic recovery to continue. During the early trading hours, Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading 0.4% lower. However, S&P 500 and the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite were trading above the flat line.