Market opened on a negative today and maintained the negative trajectory, realizing a loss of 238pts during the session and closing -141pts, says a report of AHL. International crude prices slipped overnight to trade near US$31.5/bbl, which was approx. 4% down from the level KSE100 saw on last Thursday, before the market closed for long weekend (due to Eid). Besides, Cement and Banking sectors remained under pressure throughout the session for want of a clear positive trigger. Off-board scrips, TRG, UNITY, PAEL, HUMNL remained in the limelight in addition to Pharma sector (primarily SEARL and GLAXO), which has consistently shown performance on the back of Covid-19 cures. Technology sector led the volumes with 36.9M shares, followed by O&GMCs (28.8M) and Vanaspati (21.2M). Among scrips, TRG topped the index with 24.7M shares, followed by HASCOL (24.4M) and UNITY (21.1M).

· The Index closed at 33,695pts as against 33,836pts showing a decline of 141pts (-0.4% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-76pts), E&P (-56pts), Fertilizer (-22pts), Chemical (-16pts), Power (-14pts), Pharma (+31pts) and Technology (+21pts).

· Volumes declined further from 147.2mn shares to 194.6mn shares (+32% DoD). Average traded value also increased by 25% to reach US$ 45.1mn as against US$ 36.4mn.

· Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include TRG, HASCOL, UNITY, PAEL and MLCF, which formed 48% of total volumes.

· Stocks that contributed positively to the index include SEARL (+21pts), TRG (+19pts), GLAXO (+11pts), MARI (+9pts) and KAPCO (+7pts). Stocks that contributed negatively include OGDC (-27pts), UBL (-27pts), PPL (-26pts), HBL (-24pts), and HUBC (-18pts).