Market carried the momentum shown in the past couple of sessions and finally crossed the 42,000 index level. Cement sector led the Index on the back of an increase in Cement price / bag in North Region, which coincided with brisk buying activity in small and mid-caps in Autos, Chemical, Steel, Refinery and Miscellaneous sectors that pulled the index with 409pts. The Index closed the session +362pts (unadjusted). International crude oil prices also started recovering on the news of UK announcing expeditious delivery of vaccine. Among scrips, UNITY topped the volumes with 39.7M shares, followed by TRG (38.5M) and PRL (34.5M).

· The Index closed at 42,027pts as against 41,665pts showing an increase of 362pts (+0.9% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Autos (+75pts), Banks (+57pts), Technology (+38pts), Cement (+34pts) and Power (+31pts).

· Volumes declined from 489.6mn shares to 476.9mn shares (-3% DoD). Average traded value however, increased by 5% to reach US$ 127.2mn as against US$ 121.4mn.

· Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include UNITY, TRG, PRL, MLCF and HUMNL, which formed 36% of total volumes.

· Stocks that contributed positively to the index include BAHL (+42pts), TRG (+41pts), MTL (+40pts), HUBC (+24pts) and LUCK (+23pts). Stocks that contributed negatively include PPL (-14pts), PKGS (-5pts), HBL (-4pts), EFUG (-3pts) and KTML (-3pts).

(AHL)