Pakistan equities closed deep in red on Tuesday with benchmark KSE-100 Index plunging more than 800 points to settle below 42,800 points level, down 1.9 percent. This selling pressure in the market came after straight three positive sessions which cumulatively contribute around +2400 points at the local bourse. Volumes were recorded at 275 million shares, down 27 percent as compared to previous day. Fauji Cement Company Limited (FCCL) losing 4.3 percent from the cement sector led the volume with almost 17 million shares exchanging hands. Day kicked off positive for a brief second but bears took over rigorously and dominated throughout the trading session. Initial declines were led by Index heavy Exploration and Productions (E&Ps) and Financials. Cements traded sideways till afternoon, however took the brunt of selling in the later stages with DG Khan Cement (DGKC) 4.4 percent gains and Cherat Cement Company (CHCC) 5.0 percent gains trading at their lower price limits. On the result front, Luck Cement (LUCK) gained 4.4 percent following the announcement of its earnings lower than street expectations. Fauji Fertilizers Company (FFC) losing 1.6 percent also closed negative after announcing lower than expected payout. Liner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group’s Letter of Interest to buy 51 percent stake in Fauji Foods attracted buyers in the stock and its parent Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim. Analys at Elixir Securities Murtaza Jafar expects profit taking to continue today, with eyeing support at 42,400/200. On the economic news front, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned that the US would closely be watching whether the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bails out Pakistan. He further added “There’s no rationale for IMF tax dollars and associated with that, American dollars that are part of the IMF funding to bail out Chinese bondholders or China itself”. Published in Daily Times, August 1st 2018.