· Market played in the range-bound area today as investors remained risk-averse due to the rising number of Covid-19’s new variant Omicron cases in Pakistan. Profit-taking was witnessed in the first trading hour while market battled between the bulls and bears throughout the day.

Activity continued to remain side-ways as market witnessed hefty volumes in the 3rd tier stocks.

· The Index closed at 45,407.9pts as against 45,390.8pts showing an increase of 17.1pts (+0.0% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+25pts), Power (+24pts), Investment Banks/Sec. (+20pts), Fertilizer (+13pts) and Tobacco (+13pts).

· Volumes increased from 376.0mn shares to 432.1mn shares (+14.9% DoD). Traded value decreased by 19.5% to reach US$ 58.2mn as against US$ 72.3mn.

· Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, UNITYR3, TELE, FNEL and TRG.

Courtesy – AHL