Stocks falter below 34,000-level.

KARACHI -- Stocks closed lower in choppy trade on Wednesday as investors favoured profit-booking ahead of the long Eid holidays. Starting out on extended gains reaped a day earlier, the KSE-100 index rose by a further 66 points, before it succumbed to selling pressure.

Profit-taking in main board items dragged the index down to intraday low by 372 points. The benchmark finally closed with a loss of 226 points (0.66 per cent) at 33,932.81.

On the news front, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $300 million emergency assistance loan to Pakistan to strengthen the country's rickety public health system to grapple with COVID-19. The amount would be utilised to support purchase of medical supplies and personal protective equipment.

The automobile sector also saw rally in several stocks as assemblers started plant operations, with Indus Motors leading the gainers. In pharmaceutical, Ferozsons hit the lower circuit while Sanofi-Aventis, AGP and Wyeth were also among the lead losers as investors booked gains made in the last several sessions since the race for COVID-19 vaccine started.

Not sure about the price movement of oil in the...