· Market continued the down trend today by shedding a total of 602pts during the session and closed -573pts (unadjusted). Anticipation of government’s withdrawal of tax exemption in the wake of IMF program, increase in electricity tariff and deferment of increase in petroleum prices have Investors selling positions across the board with pressure points in Tech, Cement, Steel and O&GMC sectors. Redemptions from Mutual funds and Insurance companies maintained the selling pressure on stocks. Among scrips, TRG topped the volumes with 38.1M shares, followed by UNITY (24.8M) and GGL (19.1M).

· The Index closed at 43,692pts as against 44,223pts showing a decline of 531pts (-1.2% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Technology (-130pts), Cement (-60pts), Fertilizer (-52pts), Power (-46pts) and O&GMCs (-32pts).

· Volumes declined from 492.3mn shares to 363.2mn shares (-26% DoD). Average traded value also declined by 10% to reach US$ 134.5mn as against US$ 149.1mn.

· Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include TRG, UNITY, GGL, FFBL and PRL, which formed 31% of total volumes.

· Stocks that contributed positively to the index include UBL (+12pts), MEBL (+11pts), AICL (+11pts), BAHL (+10pts) and FCCL (+8pts). Stocks that contributed negatively include TRG (-76pts), SYS (-52pts), LUCK (-43pts), HUBC (-35pts) and HBL (-31pts).