KARACHI: The KSE-100 index moved in wild swings throughout the two trading sessions on Friday to finally close at 41,701.23, representing a fall of 105.14 points (0.25 per cent).

The market opened weak and declined deep in the red in the first fifteen minutes but it quickly rebounded as local investors picked up the blue chips at dips. The benchmark rose to intraday high by 294 points on buying in major index heavyweight sectors: exploration and production, oil marketing companies, automobile assemblers and selected stocks in most sectors.

By the close of the first session, the index again retreated into the red and the selling intensified which scrapped almost all of the earlier gains, hitting intraday low by 204 points.

It was also the last day of the rollover week, which usually ends on a bleak note. Cement sector came under heavy pressure as investors hastened to sell-off after reports of investigation by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) to ascertain anti-competitive activities of the manufacturers by carrying out a search and inspection of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association office in Lahore on Thursday. DG Khan was down 2.9pc, Maple Leaf 2.7pc, Pioneer 2pc, Cherat 1.6pc and Lucky 2pc. Banking stocks continued to contribute to the downside in index.

Foreign investors for the second day took to profit-taking with sale of $3.01 million worth equities. The volume almost remained the same at 435m shares while traded value increased by 2pc to reach $93m as against $91.1m the previous day.

Among scrips, major contribution to the index came from Habib Bank, Colgate-Palmolive, Byco, Hascol and Kot Addu as they contributed 86 points. On the flip side, Lucky Cement, United Bank, TRG Pakistan, DG Khan Cement and Murree Brewery lost value to weigh down the benchmark by 113 points.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2020