ZUBAIR YAQOOB
KARACHI Market traded in the positive zone for most part of the session, despite international crude oil prices dipping below the pre-production cut levels. WTI saw declines of ~2.5% in international markets, which caused local investors to book profit on E&P and O&GMCs. Similar activity was observed in Cement sector that saw MLCF and DGKC touching levels near lower circuits, but rebounded strongly by the closing of session. Textile sector also benefited from positive investor sentiment. Major reason behind the positivity was Government’s consideration on following smart lockdown / partial opening up of businesses across the country that raised hopes among investors for return to normalcy. Banking sector stocks largely stood ground with HBL, MCB and UBL trading range bound amidst low volumes. Cement sector posted trading volumes of 37.5M shares, followed by O&GMCs (14.7M) and Power (11.7M). Among scrips, MLCF topped the volumes with 11.4M, followed by HASCOL (10.7M) and PAEL (7.7M). The Index closed at 31,223pts as against 31,033pts showing an increase of 190pts (+0.6% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (+61pts), Banks (+47pts), Textile (+41pts), Pharma (+32pts), Auto (+22pts), Food (-36pts) and Power (-21pts). Volumes dipped from 153.9mn shares to 130.4mn shares (-15% DoD) Average traded value also declined by 16% to reach US$ 28.8mn as against US$ 34.4mn.
