KARACHI: The KSE-100 Index remained under pressure throughout the session Friday due to profit booking, leading the index to close at 42,933.72 points level after shedding 461.56 points. The local bourse made an intraday high of +41 points but shortly gave up to the bears to make an intraday low of -641 points to finally close down at 42,934 points level. Senior analyst Ahsan Mehanti said bearish activity witnessed in scrips across the board at PSX on concerns for Rs15.76 trillion surging domestic debt data for November 2017. He added that dismal trade deficit data for July-December 2017 on external account and ongoing political noise played a catalyst role in bearish close at PSX. Volumes contracted to 239 million shares versus 319 million shares traded previously. TRG losing 3.04 percent and Worldcall Telecom (WTL) losing 3.45 percent from the technology and communication sector were the major volume leaders of the day. Friday’s major laggards at the bourse were Pakistan State Oil (PSO) losing 3.88 percent, DG Khan Cement (DGKC) losing 4.93 percent, Oil Gas Development Company (OGDC) losing 1.41 percent, Engro Corporation losing 1.69 percent and United Bank Limited (UBL) losing 1.14 percent contributed 158 points to the loss of index. Investors opted to book profits in the cement sector where heavyweights DGKC with 4.93 percent drop, Kohat Cement with 2.19 percent, Maple leaf Cement (MLCF) with 2.21 percent decline and Lucky Cement with 0.01 percent decline lost value to close in the red zone. “We expect the market to remain under pressure on the back of political flux and recommend investors to stay cautious and book profits on strength”, said JS Research’s analyst” Maaz Mulla. The engineering sector remained under the hammer as the sector cumulatively lost 39 points, where International Steels Limited (ISL) losing 5 percent, Amreli Steel Mills Limited (ASTL) losing 4.07 percent and International Industries Limited (INIL) losing 3.0 percent declined the most. Exploration and Production (E&P) sector declined from its previous day close, where Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) losing 0.90 percent and OGDC losing 1.41 percent were the major losers of the mentioned sector. Published in Daily Times, January 13th 2017.