The KSE 100 Index extended its volatile session as it lost 0.33% and closed at 40,531 points. The market participation was relatively low in comparison to the previous sessions. The major selling pressure came from brokers’ propriety, selling shares worth $2.3 million. The foreigners were the net sellers of $0.8 million shares. Insurance companies were on the buying spree, raking in $2.3 million worth of shares. Despite making a good start, the index quickly lost impetus as investors indulged in profit-taking activity, thus making the benchmark index lose the gains it made in early session. Irfan Saeed, Senior Vice President BMA Capital Management, said the market is naturally in its correction mode after crossing 40,000-mark last week, when bulls paraded the bourse. He added the market will continue to correct itself till the consolidation mark is achieved i.e below 40,000-barrier. The benchmark KSE 100 Index, which opened at 40,741.89, touched its intraday high at 40,911.19-level midday after gathering 246.59 points. The index then headed south, reaching its day’s low at 40,450.98 after losing 213.62 points. It settled lower by 133.18 points at 40,531.42. The KMI 30 Index declined by 329.88 points to end at 64,188.30, while the KSE All Share Index depreciated by 30.44 points, closing at 28,937.45. The Index traded in a range of 459.79 points or 1.13 percent of previous close, showing an intraday high of 40,910.77 and a low of 40,450.98.All Share Volume increased by 50.41 Million to 305.03 Million Shares. Market Cap decreased by Rs.19.04 Billion. The volume was led by Unity Foods Limited, Power Cement Limited and Pak Elektron, exchanging 44.52 million, 16.30 million and 15.62 million shares, respectively. Sectors the propped up the index were Chemical with 14 points, Textile Composite with 11 points, Automobile Parts & Accessories with 10 points. Sectors that led the index go south included, power generation and distribution and cement. Among the companies, Pak Petroleum Limited, Hub Power Company Limited and Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited chiseled off maximum points from the index. Meanwhile, Asian Development Bank (ADB) has planned to invest $2 billion in Pakistan’s energy sector over the course of next three years. ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Werner Liepach during a meeting with Power Minister Omar Ayub Khan, said “With the fresh release of $300 million to address the country’s issues regarding circular debt, ADB has cemented its position as the top energy sector partner of Pakistan.” The meeting took stock of the ADB-funded projects in the energy sector and it was decided that a comprehensive portfolio review meeting would be held by the end of this month between the Power Division and ADB to steer the projects to their logical culmination. In Asia: Stock markets traded mixed ahead of the U.S Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision. Investors awaited the Fed’s final interest rate decision for the year with expectations that the central bank will keep the rate on hold. Meanwhile, investors treaded carefully amid developments on U.S.-China trade as December fifteenth U.S tariff deadline approaches. Post deadline when more tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S are set to kick in. That comes as markets have been expecting a “phase one” trade deal to be reached between Washington and Beijing. Hong Kong’s Hang Sengled the gains closing over o.79 % higher. In Japan Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 traded0.08% lower, as economists fear economic slowdown in the fourth quarter amid rise in consumption tax. Mainland Chinese stocks ended their trading day mixed, with the Shanghai composite up 0.24% to around 2,924.42. Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest initial public offering (IPO), surged past expectations as it debuted on the country’s stock exchange on Wednesday morning.Shares of the state-owned oil company rose to 35.2 Saudi riyals ($9.38) from 32 riyals in early deals in Riyadh, up 10% and hitting their daily limit. The price gives it a valuation of $1.88 trillion and makes it the largest listed company in the world, comfortably ahead of Microsoft and Apple. Aramco’s public debut, which listed 1.5% of its shares locally on the Saudi Tadawul, is the biggest on record topping the $25 billion Alibaba raised when it went public in September 2014. The oil giant has also surpassed its earlier valuation of $1.7 trillion, announced when share pricing was disclosed last week at the top of the market range. But the $1.88 trillion valuation remains below what the kingdom had initially targeted and relied heavily on local investors after the company canceled international roadshows due to lackluster foreign interest.