Zubair Yaqoob
Karachi
Market opened on a positive note and went up by 278pts during the session, which was mainly contributed by Oil & Gas sector scrips, E&P and OMCs. International crude prices prompted investors to build positions in oil & gas chain, however, selling pressure brought prices down and index moved downwards by 200pts.
Chemical sector, on the other hand, performed well on the bourse, with LOTCHEM hitting upper circuit earlier in the session (on the back of better product margins) and maintained that position throughout. Similarly, EPCL, DOL and other chemical sector stocks gained traction from renewed interest by investors. Chemical sector led the volumes table with 18.5M shares followed by Banks (17.8M) and Cement (17M).
Among scrips, HASCOL led the volumes with 11.2M, followed by LOTCHEM (8.9M) and BOP (8.3M). The Index closed at 40,724pts as against 40,884pts showing a decline of 160pts (-0.4% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Power (-65pts), E&P (-42pts), O&GMCs (-40pts) and Inv Banks (-13pts) and Cement (-6pts). Volumes declined from 146.2mn shares to 127.8mn shares (-13% DoD).
Average traded value also declined by 4% to reach US$ 38.0mn as against US$ 39.6mn. Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HASCOL, LOTCHEM, BOP, UNITY and MLCF, which formed 32% of total volumes.
