KARACHI: On the eve of the budget, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed fluctuations on Thursday, managing modest gains in a volatile session. However, the benchmark KSE-100 index failed to close above the key level of 170,000 despite an intraday effort to surpass it, amid rising tensions in the Middle East following reports of US-Israel attacks and Iranian retaliation. Topline Securities Ltd said the benchmark KSE-100 index ended the session on a buoyant note, edging higher to close at 169,703 points, up 276 points or 0.16 per cent, a modest yet encouraging recovery amid an otherwise turbulent week dominated by geopolitical headwinds.