PSX Market opened on a positive today, maintained positive momentum during the session but selling pressure in the end brought the index down by 165pts (unadjusted). Profit booking continues from past sessions, however, Investors have generally been switching positions from stocks that have nearly doubled from their recent bottoms (Cement) into Stocks that have had muted performance (Banks & O&GMCs). ENGRO saw selling pressure due to it being Ex-dividend, however, prospects of increase in price of fertilizer kept the buying interest alive. Cement sector stocks performed well during the session on the back of increase in cement prices in North region, however, profit booking brought the prices down again. O&GMCs topped the volumes with 74.2M shares, followed by Cement (74.1M) and Power (63.4M). Among scrips, HASCOL led the volumes with 63.7M shares, followed by KEL (54M) and BYCO (42.6M).

· The Index closed at 42,346pts as against 42,531pts showing a decline of 185pts (-0.4% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-66pts), Fertilizer (-50pts), Inv Banks (-25pts), Technology (-25pts) and Insurance (-16pts).

· Volumes increased from 509.5mn shares to 662.8mn shares (+30% DoD). Average traded value also increased by 28% to reach US$ 111.9mn as against US$ 87.5mn.

· Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HASCOL, KEL, BYCO, BOP and UNITY, which formed 36% of total volumes.

· Stocks that contributed positively to the index include MTL (+13pts), NESTLE (+11pts), MLCF (+10pts), THALL (+7pts) and EPCL (+6pts). Stocks that contributed negatively include ENGRO (-39pts), DAWH (-22pts), UBL (-21pts), HBL (-20pts) and TRG (-18pts). (AHL)