· Market saw selling pressure from the start of trading session, which was primarily caused by an overnight decline in crude oil prices as well as profit booking in Power, O&GMCs and Fertilizer sector stocks. Cement and Steel sector stocks bounced back today after yesterday’s selling activity on the back of healthy growth in Cement dispatches. Chemical sector stocks also performed well on close of quarter and anticipation of posting better earnings. Among scrips, HUMNL topped the volumes with 68.4M shares, followed by PRL (58.1M) and TRG (31M).

· The Index closed at 44,650pts as against 44,686pts showing a decline of 36pts (-0.1% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (-108pts), Power (-53pts), O&GMCs (-33pts), Fertilizer (-10pts) and Technology (+46pts).

· Volumes increased from 540.8mn shares to 582.4mn shares (+8% DoD). Average trading value, on the contrary, declined by 9% to reach US$ 151mn as against US$ 166.3mn.

· Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HUMNL, PRL, TRG, PAEL and KAPCO, which formed 36% of total volumes.

· Stocks that contributed positively to the index include TRG (+43pts), KAPCO (+25pts), HBL (+20pts), SEARL (+17pts) and MCB (+16pts). Stocks that contributed negatively include HUBC (-74pts), PPL (-55pts), OGDC (-41pts), PSO (-19pts) and POL (-12pts).