Karachi, April 14, 2020: Market traded in the positive zone for most part of the session, despite international crude oil prices dipping below the pre-production cut levels. WTI saw declines of ~2.5 percent in international markets, which caused local investors to book profit on E&P and O&GMCs.
Similar activity was observed in Cement sector that saw MLCF and DGKC touching levels near lower circuits, but rebounded strongly by the closing of session. Textile sector also benefited from positive investor sentiment.
Major reason behind the positivity was Government’s consideration on following smart lockdown / partial opening up of businesses across the country that raised hopes among investors for return to normalcy.
Banking sector stocks largely stood ground with HBL, MCB and UBL trading range bound amidst low volumes. Cement sector posted trading volumes of 37.5 million shares, followed by O&GMCs (14.7 million) and Power (11.7 million). Among scrips, MLCF topped the volumes with 11.4 million, followed by HASCOL (10.7 million) and PAEL (7.7 million).
The Index closed at 31,223 points as against 31,033 points showing an increase of 190 points (+0.6 percent DoD). Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (+61 points), Banks (+47 points), Textile (+41 points), Pharma (+32 points), Auto (+22 points), Food (-36 points) and Power (-21 points).
Volumes dipped from 153.9 million shares to 130.4 million shares (-15 percent DoD) Average traded value also declined by 16 percent to reach US$ 28.8 million as against US$ 34.4 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include MLCF, HASCOL, PAEL, KEL and PIOC, which formed 34 percent of total volumes. Stocks that contributed positively to the index include LUCK (+23 points), MTL (+19 points), NML (+16 points), NBP (+13 points) and SEARL (+12 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include NESTLE (-35 points), HUBC (-22 points), HMB (-6 points), OGDC (-6 points), and SNGP (-6 points).
