Market traded in a narrow range between -70pts and +188pts, closing the session +64pts. E&P sector saw selling pressure that has been the case since international oil prices have faced resistance in the past couple of sessions. Fertilizer, Cement, Steel and Textile sector scrips performed well today on the back of positive expectations from upcoming Budget, whereas Banks and E&P sectors saw profit booking. Cement sector led the volumes with 44.4M shares, followed by Chemical (31.8M) and Technology (27.7M). POWER topped the volumes with 19.2M shares, followed by TRG (14.5M) and UNITY (10.8M).

· The Index closed at 35,129pts as against 35,066pts showing an increase of 64pts (+0.2% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Fertilizer (+60pts), Cement (+44pts), E&P (-46pts), Banks (-36pts) and Food (-23pts).

· Volumes increased from 218.6mn shares to 270.6mn shares (+24% DoD). Average traded value also increased by 9% to reach US$ 52.6mn as against US$ 48.3mn.

· Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include POWER, TRG, UNITY, EPCL and MLCF, which formed 24% of total volumes.

· Stocks that contributed positively to the index include DAWH (+27pts), FFC (+25pts), LUCK (+25pts), MEBL (+20pts) and ENGRO (+20pts). Stocks that contributed negatively include UBL (-32pts), HBL (-24pts), OGDC (-22pts), NESTLE (-18pts), and PPL (-15pts) (AHL)