The session was marred by the news of FATF bill that required Parliament’s approval and expectation of possible decline thereof, caused the Index to come under selling pressure. Besides, SBP announced the date for the Monetary Policy decision where street consensus is of a status quo. Overall volumes remained below 500M shares and the index closed 64pts below LDCP. Banks, O&GMCs, Pharma and Steel sector saw selling pressure, whereas Fertilizer and Cement sectors performed well in anticipation of increase in fertilizer and Cement prices. Power sector topped the volumes with 82.7M shares, followed by Cement (65.6M) and Banks (54M). Among scrips, KEL realized trading volumes of 70.5M shares, followed by HASCOL (37.4M) and DCL (28.1M).

· The Index closed at 42,282pts as against 42,346pts showing a decline of 64pts (-0.2% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Fertilizer (+54pts), Cement (+23pts), Banks (-68pts), O&GMCs (-28pts), Power (-27pts) and Tobacco (-18pts).

· Volumes increased from 662.8mn shares to 490mn shares (-26% DoD). Average traded value also declined by 21% to reach US$ 87.9mn as against US$ 111.8mn.

· Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include KEL, HASCOL, DCL, JSCL and UNITY, which formed 37% of total volumes.

· Stocks that contributed positively to the index include ENGRO (+41pts), LUCK (+20pts), DAWH (+19pts), FFC (+15pts) and SYS (+11pts). Stocks that contributed negatively include HBL (-28pts), PAKT (-18pts), HUBC (-16pts), UBL (-15pts) and PSO (-13pts). (AHL)