KARACHI: Pakistan equities closed Thursday in green with benchmark KSE-100 Index settled above 42,900 mark, gaining 192.09 points. Sideways activity was witnessed throughout the day as the market consolidated in a narrow range, however late buying in select blue chips pushed the Index higher. Market recovers as the value investors took opportunity of attractive prices ahead of result season. Since the decision of going to IMF is on hold, the key major concerns on political and macroeconomic front remained unchanged. The Index was driven by the Dawood Hercules group and Cements. Textiles also performed well due to the news that the upcoming government is planning on introducing a textile package to give relief to the sector. Cements regained momentum with Lucky Cement (LUCK) gaining 2.58 percent, DG Khan Cement (DGKC) gaining 2.95 percent while Maple Leaf Cement (MLCF) gaining 4.99 percent and Attock Cement (ACPL) gaining 5 percent traded at their upper price limits. Sui Northern Gas Pipeline (SNGP) gaining 3.95 percent remained upbeat in the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) space. Pak Elektron with 2.63 percent gains, Lotte Chemical Pakistan (LOTCHEM) with 0.64 percent gains and Bank of Punjab (BOP) with 0.69 percent gains led the volume charts as they collectively traded over 30 million shares. On the result front, Allied Bank Limited (ABL) announced its financial result for the second quarter 2018 at Rs 2.97/share along with cash dividend of Rs 2, which remained in-line with street expectations. Murtaza Jafar, an analyst at Elixir Securities expects volatility to remain high as Index heads towards 43,000/100 resistance zone. Published in Daily Times, August 10th 2018.