KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed range-bound session on Friday as investors remained cautious over current uncertain political outlook and challenging macros. The KSE-100 Index traded between an intraday high of +97 points and an intraday low of -176 points. Most of the selling pressure was witnessed during the second half of the day, which pulled the market down to close at 40,844 points, up 31 points. TRG gaining 5 percent remained the top volume leader. Banking came under the hammer where major banks closed in the red. Habib Bank Limited (HBL) losing 0.17 percent, United Bank Limited (UBL) losing 0.35 percent and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) losing 0.37 percent were the major laggards in the said sector. On the political front, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided to reopen Hudaibiya Paper Mills corruption case against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar while judgment was also reserved in the case against opposition leader Imran Khan & Jahangir Tareen. In the oil marketing companies (OMC) space, Pakistan State Oil (PSO) losing 3.23 percent closed in the red as the government imposed ban on the use of furnace oil for power production due to smog in upper Punjab. “Stocks closed higher amid speculations in the post earnings season rally at PSX strong earnings outlook. Higher global crude prices, upbeat financial results in selected oil, banking and auto scripts played a catalytic role in the higher close at PSX despite mid-session pressure on MSCI downgrades, foreign outflows and surging trade deficit data for July-October 2017,” said senior analyst Ahsan Mehanti. Exploration & production (E&P) sector led the gains at the local bourse as crude oil edged higher Pakistan Oil Fields (POL) gaining 0.54 percent, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) gaining 1.59 percent and Oil Gas Development Company (OGDC) gaining 1.03 percent closed positive. “We recommend investors to stay cautious at current levels where any upside can be considered as an opportunity to reduce short term positions or book profits,” said JS Research’s analyst Maaz Mulla. Published in Daily Times, November 18th 2017.