Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) fell flat on Tuesday, following the previous session’s recovery path, as investors’ participation diminished. During the session, the benchmark index Kse-100 remained range bound throughout the day, and gained 44 points by the session end to close at 41,197 level. During the session, the lack of fresh triggers and rising political uncertainty weighed on investors’ confidence. The market discounted previous session’s strong one day rally, which was built on the announcement made by the U.S based biopharmaceutical company Pfizer, which raised hopes of revival of economic activity to Pre-Covid-19 level. The drug maker Pfizer announced on Monday that an early analysis of its coronavirus vaccine trial suggested the vaccine was robustly effective in preventing Covid-19. The selling pressure was primarily witnessed in the Cement sector over the expectation of a decline in monthly despatches, whereas fertilizer, oil & gas marketing and banking sectors remained subdued due to muted investor sentiment. However, the exploration and production sector attempted some recovery on the back of increasing oil prices in international market. The crude oil markets have rallied since Monday due to the vaccine news, as Brent crude, the global benchmark, has jumped nearly 10 percent and touched $44.68 a barrel on Wednesday. At kse-100, the index volumes decreased from 211.6 million shares recorded in the previous session to 129.69 million shares, while the overall market volumes were recorded at around 244.29 million shares, increasing from the previous session’s volumes of about 356 million shares. The volume chart was led by Bank Islami Pakistan Limited followed by TRG Pakistan Limited and and K-Electric Limited. The scrips exchanged 31.52 million, 25.04 million and 16.32 million shares, respectively. Sectors that lifted the index were Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 130 points, Commercial Banks with 35 points, Technology & Communication with 22 points, Investment Banks with 1 points and Close – End Mutual Fund with 1 points. Among the scrips, most points added to the index was by Oil & Gas Development Company Limited which contributed 55 points followed by Pakistan Petroleum Limited with 37 points, Habib Bank Limited with 36 points, Pakistan Oilfields Limited with 25 points and TRG Pakistan Limited with 16 points. However, the sectors which dented the index were Cement with 62 points, Power Generation & Distribution with 11 points, Tobacco with 11 points, Pharmaceuticals with 10 points and Textile Composite with 10 points. Among the scrips, most points taken off the index was by Lucky Cement Limited which stripped the index of 25 points followed by Engro Corporation Limited with 17 points, Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited with 9 points, Cherat Cement Company Limited with 8 points and K- Electric Limited with 8 points. Global Markets: Stocks traded mixed amid market rotation Global stocks traded mixed on Wednesday as investors continued to digest the news of Covid-19 vaccine breakthrough and U.S presidential election results, which fueled broad global equity rally. Stocks showed mixed trend, as a market rotation out of names that thrived during the pandemic and into stocks linked to an economic recovery continued. In Asia, stocks traded mixed, as major tech shares took a hit across the region. Among the regional markets which posted gains were Japan’s Nikkei 225 which rose 1.78% to close at 25,349.60, while South Korea’s Kospi index added 1.35% to close at 2,485.87. However, denting the trend, Chinese stocks declined on the day, with Shanghai composite shed 0.53% to around 3,342.20 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also dipped 0.28% to finish its trading day at 26,226.98. Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Tencent dropped 9.8% and 7.39%, respectively, while JD.com and Meituan also fell 9.2% and 9.67% respectively. Elsewhere in Japan, shares of conglomerate Softbank Group slipped 2.47%, while in South Korea, industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics saw its stock gain 1.83%. European financial markets however, continued to extend the rally into the third day of the week, with pan-European Stoxx 600 posting 0.9% gains in afternoon trade, with utilities advanced 1.9% to lead gains. Among the regional markets, UK’s FTSE-100 led the gains, and advanced nearly 1%, followed by CAC-40 in France and Germany’s DAX, which added nearly 0.5% each. In U.S, Wall Street witnessed a mixed, as markets witnessed value hunting over sold tech stocks, after news of an effective Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine earlier this week broadened out to major tech names that have been under pressure. Among the major tech stocks, Apple advanced 0.8%., while Netflix climbed 0.3%.Following the trend, Facebook and Amazon also rose 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively, while Alphabet and Microsoft both traded 0.8% higher. During the early trading hour, Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 73 points higher, that placed it on pace for a three-day winning streak, while the S&P 500 gained 0.5%. The tech heavy Nasdaq Composite also advanced 0.9%. The Dow was coming off two back-to-back strong sessions, following Pfizer and BioNTech’s announcement about their more than 90% effective Covid-19 vaccine. The vaccine news has since, hammered the tech stocks, due to market rotation and has lifted energy, recreational, oil and financial sectors.