· Market came down today by 809pts during the session, after posting an initial increase of 163pts. By the end of session, the index made small recovery to close -662pts (unadjusted). Increase in leverage levels during the ongoing week from Rs. 35B level (across MTS, MFS and Futures) on March 12th to Rs. 41B till yesterday reignited the issue of overleveraging at a time, when key economic decisions are pending on account of monetary policy as well as withdrawal of tax exemptions. Selling was observed across the board, with Cement, Steel, Refinery and Tech stocks contributing to the onslaught. Among scrips, BYCO topped the volumes with 57.8M shares, followed by KEL (49.5M) and TRG (39.1M).

· The Index closed at 44,724pts as against 45,450pts showing a decline of 726pts (-1.6% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Tech (-118pts), Banks (-112pts), E&P (-87pts), Cement (-86pts) and O&GMCs (-48pts).

· Volumes increased from 510.8mn shares to 554.1mn shares (+8% DoD). Average traded value declined by 5% to reach US$ 153.3mn as against US$ 160.4mn.

· Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include BYCO, KEL, TRG, HUMNL and ANL, which formed 37% of total volumes.

· Stocks that contributed positively to the index include FFC (+16pts), EPCL (+10pts), INDU (+6pts), AGP (+4pts) and NESTLE (+3pts). Stocks that contributed negatively include TRG (-101pts), ENGRO (-47pts), PSO (-35pts), PPL (-34pts) and BAHL (-33pts).