ZUBAIR YAQOOB
KARACHI Market opened on a positive note on Tuesday with 62pts and did not see back since then. The ascent continued till 1311pts in the benchmark index and closed the session +1242pts (unadjusted). The overriding factor that helped investors take a positive view on the market seems to be weakening selling pressure from Foreign Investors as well as the recent announcements ontax relief by the Government that include select relief on account of custom duty, additional duties and GST. Also, the prospect of end of lock down, as April begins, boosted investor confidence to take a positive view on equities. Cement sector led the volumes with 51.8M shares, followed by O&GMCs (31.5M) and Power (23.4M). Among scrips, HASCOL posted trading volumes of 25.8M shares, followed by MLCF (19M) and KEL (16.7M). The Index closed at 29,231pts as against 28,023pts showing an increase of 1208pts (+4.3% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+339pts), Fertilizer (+161pts), E&P (+125pts), Power (+117pts) Cement (+109pts).
