Zubair Yaqoob
Karachi
Market went positive on the prospect of rate cut for which SBP will be taking decision by end of week, besides the Govt’s stance on construction of Dams that is likely to generate demand for Cement and Steel.
Resultantly, Cement and Steel sectors ruled the index, mostly trading near upper circuits and generating high trading volumes. Banking and Oil & Gas sector stocks couldn’t generate much interest amongst investors. Cement sector topped the index with 75.8M shares, followed by Technology (28.6M) and Vanaspati (23.1M).
Among scrips, MLCF realized trading volumes of 28.4M shares, followed by UNITY (23.1M) and FCCL (19.1M). The Index closed at 33,603pts as against 33,284pts showing an increase of 319pts (+1% DoD).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (+150pts), Banks (+67pts), Fertilizer (+62pts), E&P (+28pts), Power (+24pts) and O&GMCs (-16pts). Volumes increased further from 198.2mn shares to 224.5mn shares (+13% DoD). Average traded value also increased by 68% to reach US$ 45.9mn as against US$ 27.4mn.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include MLCF, UNITY, FCCL, WTL and HASCOL, which formed 42% of total volumes. Stocks that contributed positively to the index include LUCK (+50pts), ENGRO (+31pts), HBL (+29pts), MCB (+28pts) and DGKC (+26pts). Stocks that contributed negatively include SNGP (-20pts), BAHL (-9pts), PMPK (-8pts), DAWH (-7pts), and AICL (-6pts).
