Daily Times

KARACHI: The benchmark index lost its bullish momentum of last 8 successive sessions as Pakistan equities on Tuesday closed with marginal decline of 57 points, settling at 46,477 levels.

Market kicked off on a positive note making an intraday high of +99 points but remained sideways making an intraday low of -173 points. On the economic front, trade deficit widened to $ 27.3 billion in nine months of Fiscal year 2017-18 (FY18), higher by 17.3 percent year-on-year (YoY).

Moreover, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Saudi economic reforms may further upset remittance inflows. Once again pressure came down by Financials and Cement sector where major laggards were Bank Alflah (-4.09%), NBP (-1.60%), BAFL (-1.07%), MCB (-0.89%), HBL (-0.80%), CHCC (-0.79%), FCCL (-1.16%), MLCF (-0.13%) and DGKC (-0.22%).

Traded volumes surged by 8 percent day-on-day (DoD) to 220 million shares while value traded decreased to $ 68 million. Top volume stocks were LOTCHEM (+2.02%), EPCL (+0.57%), NRSL (+0.44%) and TRG (-0.35%). On the flip side, Exploration and Production (E&P) sector was the major mover where PPL (+2.10%) and POL (+0.82%) closed in the green as the international oil market bounced back after a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping eased concerns about a trade conflict between the United States and China. Maaz Mulla, an analyst, expects overall activity to remain volatile in the coming sessions with flows from Foreigners and Local institutions guiding the market direction.

Published in Daily Times, April 11^th 2018.