· Market took pressure from the negative news vibes due to delay in negotiating the resumption of IMF package. Though, the Ministry of Finance highlighted that the negotiations are ongoing and underlying terms will be negotiated soon, the investors didn’t like the uncertainty resulting in the index losing 379pts during the session and closing -217pts (unadjusted). Oil chain and banking stocks went positive earlier in the session that added a total of 169pts on the index, however, selling pressure eroded this gain and MoC brought the Index in negative territory. Among scrips, HUMNL topped the volumes with 25.1M shares, followed by WTL (20.8M) and HASCOL (13.8M).

· The Index closed at 44,629pts as against 44,821pts showing a decline of 192pts (-0.4% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Technology (-146pts), Cement (-47pts), Engineering (-27pts), Textile (-24pts) and Refinery (-18pts).

· Volumes declined from 334.3mn shares to 248.3mn shares (-26% DoD). Average traded value also declined by 25% DoD to reach US$ 51mn as against US$ 68.2mn.

· Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HUMNL, WTL, HASCOL, UNITY and DSL, which formed 34% of total volumes.

· Stocks that contributed positively to the index include HBL (+48pts), MCB (+31pts), OGDC (+30pts), PPL (+29pts) and ENGRO (+27pts). Stocks that contributed negatively include TRG (-88pts), SYS (-47pts), BAHL (-42pts), FFC (-22pts) and UNITY (-17pts).