The Karachi Stock Exchange.—Reuters Photo

KARACHI: Pakistan’s main stock market closed down on Wednesday, with investors booking profits after Islamabad and Washington reached an agreement on re-opening routes used to supply Nato troops in Afghanistan, analysts said.

The Karachi Stock Exchange benchmark 100-share index lost 22.69 points, or 0.16 per cent, to close at 14,178.1 points on volume of 80.7 million shares.

The market had risen earlier in the week “because investors were anticipating the re-opening of Nato supply routes to Afghanistan,” said Atif Zafar, a research analyst at the JS Global financial services company.

“Once Pakistan announced the re-opening, investors chose to sell shares at higher levels.”

Pakistan and the United States reached a deal on Tuesday to re-open land routes that Nato uses to supply troops in Afghanistan, ending a seven-month crisis that damaged ties between the two countries.