Although the KSE-100 Index started the day in a confident fashion after gaining 460.24 points in early trading, it barely remained in positive territory by the time the session was closed on Wednesday.

By the end, the index stood at 31,242.19 as it was up by only 19.45 points after starting the session from the previous level of 31,222.74.

Same was the case with the US dollar which gained three paisas against the rupee by closing at Rs166.98.

In the early trading, the dollar had weakened a bit against the rupee as greenback was available for Rs166.80 against the yesterday’s level of Rs166.95 in inter-bank trading.

So the business day started with optimism but ended with unfulfilled expectations on both fronts.

Today’s proceedings at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) were a reminder that the bloodbath experienced on Monday – the KSE-100 Index losing 1,000.22points – was a reflection of a long-term trend based upon lack of confidence and the growing instability in financial markets.

However, it was followed by some positive news on Tuesday as the investors breathed a sigh of relief after the PSX shrugged off the previous day’s poor performance and floated along in the positive territory.

When the session closed for the day, the KSE-100 Index stood at 31,222.74 as it gained 189.75 points.

The latest overall downward trend being witnessed by the market began on March 6 with the index closing the session a day earlier at 39,382.11. Less than three weeks later, it reached 27,228.80 on March 25.

However, it saw some recovery after that as the KSE-100 Index reached 31,621.79 on April 3.

This upward surge was in complete contrast with what the market witnessed in the previous weeks when the KSE-100 went south. However, it proved to be just a small bump with no long-term positive consequences.

So it wasn’t a surprise that the stock market was unable to sustain this short-lived sequence of gains as the index went nowhere since then and currently stands at 31,242.19.