Zubair Yaqoob
Karachi
Market traded range bound for most of the session, with Cement, Banks and Engineering (Steel) sectors facing selling pressure, whereas Oil & gas stocks trading green. International crude price rebounded overnight for WTI to trade +15% from its previous close and helped OGDC, PPL and HASCOL hitting upper circuits. Sentiment on banking sector turned negative due to SBP’s direction to the Banks to conserve capital by not declaring dividends.
Cement sector, on the other hand, saw profit booking amid poor financial results of some Cement players. Cement sector led the volumes with 70.4M shares, followed by O&GMCs (28.1M) and Banks (14.7M). Among scrips, MLCF topped the table with 24.5M shares, followed by HASCOL (21.9M) and FCCL (12.1M).
The Index closed at 32,850pts as against 32,464pts showing an increase of 387pts (+1.2% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+265pts), O&GMCs (+74pts), Fertilizer (+65pts), Power (+55pts), Pharma (+24pts), Cement (-96pts) and Banks (-58pts). Volumes declined from 239.8mn shares to 204.3mn shares (-15% DoD). Average traded value also declined by 8% to reach SU$ 58.8mn as against US$ 64.2mn.
