Zubair Yaqoob
Karachi
Market didn’t respond well to Govt.’s budget announcement. The benchmark index lost a total of 796pts during the session and closed -787pts. The budget largely disappointed investors who expected major tax cuts and incentives from the budget which the government itself termed as Corona budget. Selling pressure was observed across the board from Banks to Oil & Cements, without paying heed to reduction of duties that the Government announced for various sectors on import of raw material. Highest trading volume was observed in Vanaspati sector with 45.3M shares, followed by Cement (38.7M) and Chemical (23.9M). Among scrips, UNITY topped the index with 45.3M shares, followed by POWER (10.9M) and ANL (10.3M). The Index closed at 33,824pts as against 34,612pts showing a decline of 787pts (-2.3% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-178pts), E&P (-115pts), Cement (-99pts), Fertilizer (-89pts), Power (-58pts). Volumes increased from 177.9mn shares to 262.8mn shares (+48% DoD). Average traded value also increased by 31% to reach US$ 50.2mn as against US$ 38.3mn. Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include UNITY, POWER, ANL, MLCF and LOTCHEM, which formed 33% of total volumes.
