KARACHI: Stocks dipped on Thursday as political instability pushed down the benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange to an intraday low of 422.02 points.

Arif Habib Ltd said the KSE-100 index opened in the green, but the momentum dissipated quickly owing to rising political temperature amid the expected arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan. Investors` participation remained varied, with third-tier equities leading the volume board.

Topline Securities said investors opted to remain on the sidelines in the absence of any positive trigger. Profit-taking also took place in blue-chip stocks, which had seen a rally during the last few days.

As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,442.08points, down 391.58 points or 0.94 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume decreased 19.3pc to 101.3 million shares. Thetraded value went down 15.7pc to $10.5m on a dayon-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume includedWorldCall Telecom Ltd (9.9m shares), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (7.5m shares), Cnergyico PK Ltd (6.6m shares), Oil and Gas Development CompanyLtd (4.9m shares) and Fauji Foods Ltd (4.9m shares).

Sectors contributing negatively to the index performance were com-mercial banking (128.1 points), technology and communication (94.4 points), fertiliser (56.1 points), exploration and production (45.1 points) and power generation and distribution (27.6 points).

Companies registering the biggest increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs300), Sapphire Fibres Ltd (Rs58.92), Pakistan Services Ltd (Rs49), Reliance Cotton Spinning Mills Ltd (Rs23.17) and ZIL Ltd (Rs22).

Companies that recorded the biggest declines in their share prices in absolute terms were Bata Pakistan Ltd (Rs50), Indus Motor Company Ltd (Rs13.75), Systems Ltd (Rs10.79), ColgatePalmolive Pakistan Ltd (Rs6.36) and Lucky Core Industries Ltd (Rs5.69).

Foreign investors were net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $0.11m.