Zubair Yaqoob
Karachi
Market opened 105pts down but quickly went green with 104pts for a short while, only falling back in to red zone for the rest of the session. During the session, index lost 451 pts and closed the session -285pts. E&P, Banks, and OMCs largely faced selling pressure, whereas Cement and Steel sectors showed price gains. PPL announced financial results today and failed to impress the investors that resulted in further selling in the stock. Cement sector led the table with 17.7M shares, followed by Banks (17.6M) and Technology (12.4M). Among scrips, UNITY topped the chart with 10M shares, followed by BOP (9.2M) and HASCOL (8.6M). The Index closed at 38,858pts as against 39,144pts showing a decline of 285pts (-0.7% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-116pts), E&P (-81pts), Fertilizer (-47pts), Tobacco (-34pts), Power (-28pts) and Cement (+25pts). Volumes declined from 144.2mn shares to 124.3mn shares (-14% DoD). Average traded value however, increased from US$ 35.7mn to US$ 386mn (+8% DoD). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include UNITY, BOP, HASCOL, KEL and MLCF, which formed 33% of total volumes. Stocks that contributed positively include MEBL (+20pts), NBP (+13pts), EFERT (+12pts), KOHC (+7pts) and MARI (+7pts).
