Market continued ascent today with the benchmark index posting gains of 270pts during the session and closed +176pts (unadjusted). E&P, OMCs, Cement and Banking sector remained in the limelight. Banking sector has lately seen improvement of investor sentiment. Refinery and Chemical sector stocks saw profit booking after yesterday’s performance. Cement sector has also seen traction on the back of improved dispatches as well as better outlook on construction of hydel power and CPEC projects. Cement sector led the volumes with 46.7M shares, followed by Technology (38.6M) and Cable (36.4M). Among scrips, PAEL topped with 32.9M shares, followed by HASCOL (31.5M) and LOTCHEM (24.1M).

· The Index closed at 35,373pts as against 35,203pts showing an increase of 171pts (+0.5% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+61pts), Autos (+43pts), Cement (+41pts), Pharma (+25pts), E&P (+15pts), Power (-24pts), and Fertilizer (-17pts).

· Volumes posted a slight increase of 0.4% DoD to reach 333.9M as against 32.2mn. Average traded value, however, increased by 9% to reach US$ 73.2mn as against US$ 66.9mn.

· Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include PAEL, HASCOL, LOTCHEM, PIBTL and MLCF, which formed 40% of total volumes.

· Stocks that contributed positively to the index include INDU (+23pts), BAFL (+20pts), UBL (+15pts), HINOON (+12pts) and AICL (+11pts). Stocks that contributed negatively include HUBC (-24pts), ENGRO (-16pts), NESTLE (-10pts), TRG (-10pts), and EFERT (-7pts) (AHS)>