Market opened under pressure as inflationary concerns arise due to higher fuel prices and overheated commodities cycle. Cement sector stayed in the red zone due to mounting international coal prices. Moreover, trade deficit widened by 82.2 percent during the first eight months (July-February) of the current fiscal year 2021-22 and reached $31.959 billion compared to $17.535 billion during the same period of 2020-21. Main board activity remained dull. In the last trading hour, value buying was observed mainly in the E&P sector.

The Index closed at 44,525.72pts as against 44,514.12pts showing an increase of 11.60pts (+0.03% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+131.6pts), Power (+21.7pts), Fertilizer (+13.5pts), Inv Banks (9.1pts) and Automobile Assembler (+4.3pts).

Volumes decreased from 235.0mn shares to 188.7mn shares (-19.7% DoD). Traded value also decreased by 21.2% to reach US$ 41.4mn as against US$ 52.6mn.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include TRG, OGDC, FLYNGR1, FCCL and KEL.

Courtesy – AHL