Zubair Yaqoob
Karachi
Market continued trading in a narrow band between +128pts and -137pts and closed the session +47pts. Chemical sector contributed positively to the index, whereby LOTCHEM, EPCL, DOL hit upper circuits due to better expectation of financial results of the outgoing quarter. Quarterly financial results are due to be announced in October. Besides, buying activity was also observed in O&GMCs and small cap banks. The index braced selling pressure largely from Steel and Cement sectors, which are the subject of profit booking and have shown decent price growth since recent lows. Chemical sector topped the volumes with 48.7M shares, followed by Cement (26.8M) and Vanaspati (26.1M). Among scrips, LOTCHEM led the volumes with 27M shares followed by UNITY (26M) and BOP (14M). The Index closed at 33,524pts as against 33,477pts showing an increase of +47pts (+0.1% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Pharma (+28pts), E&P (+23pts), Banks (+17pts), Power (+16pts), Chemical (+10pts) and Cement (-48pts). Volumes declined further from 243mn shares to 237.4mn shares (-2% DoD). Average traded value declined from US$ 56.9mn to US$ 40.9mn (-28% DoD). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include LOTCHEM, UNITY, BOP, KEL and EPCL, which formed 36% of total volumes. Stocks that contributed positively include HUBC (+27pts), MARI (+24pts), HBL (+18pts), UBL (+14pts) and POL (+13pts).(-12pts), and NBP (-12pts).
