Pakistan stock exchange (PSX) fell flat on Wednesday with benchmark kse-100 index losing 47.35 points to close at 41,876.26 points in a range-bound session. Market participation continue to recede at the index as the trading activity has been knocked by the rollover week, wherein phenomenal activities of offloading the stocks purchased earlier at attractive valuation kicks in. The market expects massive selloff in the ongoing week, to cover their positions and opt for profit-taking. During the day, market witnessed some early signs of recovery over State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) statement, which said country’s Current Account Balance (CAB) turned into a surplus for the second consecutive month in August 2020, led by an impressive growth in workers’ remittances and lower import payment. Country’s Current Account Balance (CAB) surplus “amounted to $508 million and $297 million during July and August 2020”. On Tuesday, KSE-100 Index oscillated between negative and positive territory, registering its intraday low at 41,755.69 index level, and intra-day high at 42,023.06 after gaining 194 points. The index volumes slightly increased from 249.98 million shares recorded in the previous session to 251.51 million shares, while the overall market volumes also slightly advanced from 441.29 million shares from the previous session to 582.79 million shares respectively. The volume chart was led by Silkbank Limited, followed Unity Foods Limited and Jahangir Siddiqui & Co. Limited. The scrips exchanged 167.49 million, 51.81 million and 36.25 million shares, respectively. Sectors which dragged down the index were Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 43 points, Engineering with 7 points, Pharmaceuticals with 6 points, Refinery with 4 points and Cement with 3 points. Among the scrips, most points taken off the index was by Oil & Gas Development Company Limited which stripped the index of 17 points followed by Pakistan Petroleum Limited with 12 points, Lucky Cement Limited with 11 points, Pakistan Oilfields Limited with 8 points and United Bank Limited with 8 points. Sectors, which continued resist the pressure and added value to the index were Textile Composite with 30 points, Investment Banks with 19 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 17 points, Chemical with 12 points and Fertilizer with 11 points. Among the scrips, most points added to the index was by Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited which contributed 23 points followed by Colgate-Palmolive (Pakistan) Limited with 16 points, Interloop Limited with 13 points, Jubilee Life Insurance Company Limited with 7 points and Bank Of Punjab with 7 points. Global markets: Stocks traded mixed as Covid-19 resurgence haunts investors Global stocks showed some recovery but traded mixed on Wednesday as developments surrounding the resurgence coronavirus pandemic weighed on investor sentiment. Moreover, investors also reacted to recent comments from U.S Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. In a prepared testimony, the Fed’s Powell said the central bank remains committed to supporting the economy through its tools “for as long as it takes.” He also noted that “many economic indicators show marked improvement,” though the path forward “continues to be highly uncertain.” He noted “Even as Powell has sounded caution about the strength and steadiness of a recovery – contingent on ‘keeping the virus under control’. In Asia, stocks traded along the flatline, with Chinese stocks leading the gains as Shanghai composite edged up 0.17% to about 3,279.71 followed by Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, which gained 0.11% to end its trading day at 23,742.51. South Korea’s Kospi index also advanced above the flatline at 2,333.24, following Tuesday’s decline of more than 2%. However, Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged lower, on their first trading day of the week following holidays on Monday and Tuesday. European stocks continue to post recovery with travel and leisure stocks bouncing and leading the gains while all sectors and major bourses held in positive territory. UK’s FTSE-100 led the gains, and edged up 1.56%, followed by CAC-40 in France which advanced 1.02%. Germany’s DAX index also advanced on the day and closed 0.85% higher. In U.S, stocks turned negative at Wall Street, with tech shares leading the losses. During the early trading hours, Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading just below the flatline, giving up a 176-point jump, while the S&P 500 was trading 0.3% lower. Following the trend, tech heavy Nasdaq Composite was also trading 0.6% lower. Among the major tech stocks Amazon led the losses and dropped more than 1% along with Netflix to lead most of Big Tech lower. Moreover, Alphabet, Microsoft and Apple stocks also edged lower.