Karachi - Pakistani stocks trembled on Friday under political instability amid tensions over survival of the governing coalition on the issue of reinstatement of judges ousted by military dictator turned civilian president Pervez Musharraf.

The key KSE-100 index shed 165 points to close at 14,956.82, its lowest level in the last six weeks against 15,122 points on Wednesday.

The markets were closed on Thursday due to International Labour Day holiday.

"Political uncertainty is the only factor pushing the market down," said Ateeq Ahmed, senior research analyst at Capital One Equities.

Ahmed said there were fears that the coalition between Pakistan's two major political parties might collapse on the issue of restoring deposed judges, who were summarily dismissed by Musharraf on November 3 under controversial circumstances.

The leaders of the two political parties, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and its largest coalition partner Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), have locked horns over the manner of judges' restoration this week.

The PPP's leader and widower of former premier Benazir Bhutto, Asif Zardari, and the PML-N's Nawaz Sharif held two days of intense talks in Dubai on Wednesday and Thursday over the issue. (dpa)