Zubair Yaqoob
Karachi
Market traded in a narrow range on Friday between -60pts and +127pts, closing the session +73pts. Pharma sector stood out with SEARL, FEROZ traded at and near upper circuits. Engineering (Steel) sector also showed price gains, barring MUGHAL, which closed negative. Banking sector showed mixed trend, but buying activity was observed in HBL, UBL and BAFL. Among Fertilizer sector, EFERT realized high volume with price gains. Cement, E&P and OMCs on the other hand saw profit booking and closed red. Technology sector topped the volumes with 51.7M shares, followed by Inv Banks (14.8M) and Cement (13.8M). Among Scrips, TRG realized trading volume of 23.3M shares, followed by JSCL (12.7M) and HUMNL (9.1M). The Index closed at 35,051pts as against 34,978pts showing an increase of 73pts (+0.2% DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Pharma (+34pts), Banks (+32pts), Fertilizer (+28pts), Technology (+16pts), Cement (-33pts). Volumes declined from 383mn shares to 175.8mn shares (-54% DoD). Average traded value also declined by 46% to reach US$ 40.6mn as against US$ 74.9mn. Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include TRG, JSCL, HUMNL, WTL and PTC, which formed 35% of total volumes.
