KARACHI: The KSE-100 Index witnessed pressure on Friday and ended up closing down 132 points at 43,363 points levels, where anticipation of FTSE semiannual rebalancing took place. Traded volumes decreased by 12 percent day-on-day (DoD) to 193 million shares in Friday’s trading session while value traded increased to US$61 million. Major contribution to total market volumes came from Pakistan Elektron (+1.7%), Lotte Chemical (-1.4%) and Nimir Raisin Limited (-0.6%) constituting 43 million shares out of the All Shares of 193 million shares. Major heavyweights namely, MCB Bank (-0.2%), ENGRO (-1.4%), LUCK (-1.2%), Millat Tractors Limited (MTL) (-3.3%) and United Bank Limited (UBL) (-1.0%) dragged the market down by 87 points. Banking space remained under the hammer as heavyweights such as United Bank Limited (UBL) (-1.0%), Habib Bank Limited (HBL) (-0.3%), MCB (-0.2%) and National Bank Limited (NBP) (-0.5%) cumulatively contributed -33 points to close in the red zone. Selling pressure was witnessed in the cement sector as LUCK (-1.2%), DGKC (-1.4%), MLCF (-1.7%) and CHCC (-0.7%) also closed in the red trajectory. Exploration & Production sector closed positive, on the back of crude oil prices increasing in the international market. POL (+0.6%) and OGDC (+0.7%) were the major gainers of the mentioned sector. Research analyst Maaaz Mulla expects the market to depict a similar trend and recommend investors to see any upside in the market as an opportunity to sell. Published in Daily Times, March 17th 2018.