Market opened on a positive note and carried the momentum shown on the last trading day, especially with reference to resolution of circular debt that resulted in strong buying in energy chain (HUBC, KAPCO, PSO). E&P sector also saw continuation of buying interest, not only due to an increase in international crude oil prices (which jumped 2% during the session) as well as the expectation of release of stuck receivables for PPL and OGDC. Cyclicals (Cement and Steel) saw slump in stock prices due to profit booking. Tech stocks also bore selling pressure on the latest circular from NCCPL for implementation of close out mechanism for Future Contracts, as Tech stocks composes the most of the open positions in Futures contracts. Among scrips, PAEL topped the volumes with 27.3M shares, followed by HUBC (25.3M) and HASCOL (24.9M).

·          The Index closed at 44,686pts as against 44,434pts showing an increase of 252pts (+0.6% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+163pts), Power (+127pts), O&GMCs (+96pts), Banks (++77pts) and Textile (+30pts).

·          Volumes increased from declined from 642.6mn shares to 540.6mn shares (-16% DoD). Average traded value also declined by 2% to reach US$ 166.6mn as against US$ 170.7mn.

·          Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include PAEL, HUBC, HASCOL, WTL and TRG, which formed 23% of total volumes.

·          Stocks that contributed positively to the index include HUBC (+104pts), PSO (+79pts), PPL (+78pts), OGDC (+63pts) and MCB (+31pts). Stocks that contributed negatively include TRG (-60pts), SYS (-33pts), LUCK (-31pts), DGKC (-21pts) and ENGRO (-19pts).

(AHL)