Closing Bell: In a Quandary

October 1, 2020 (MLN): The stock market remained volatile throughout the day as the benchmark KSE-100 index swung between green and red zone and ultimately closed in the green territory by gaining 105 points to finish at 40,676-level, up by 0.26% from yesterday’s close.

In the initial hours of trading, stocks nosedived more than 400 points, however, in later hours bears lost momentum and index managed to close positive.

According to the closing note by Aba Ali Habib Securities, the volatility was induced by fresh micro-smart lockdown imposed in Karachi coupled with anticipation of headline inflation.

As the inflation for Sep’20 is likely to upswing amid higher food prices, investors seem to be cautious to take new positions since market has surged 18% during outgoing quarter 3QCY20, it added.

Going forward, market is expected to remain volatile owing to upcoming FATF meeting and hesitation among investors at these levels.

The Index traded in a range of 621 points, showing an intraday high of 40,735 and a low of 40,113 points.

Of the 94 traded companies in the KSE-100 Index, 45 closed up, 44 closed down, while 5 remained unchanged. The total volume traded for the index was 268.4 million shares.

Sectors propping up the index were Commercial Banks with 94 points, Cement with 51 points, Chemical with 20 points, and Oil and Gas Exploration Companies with 15 points.

The most points added to the index was by HBL which contributed 30.3 points followed by MCB with 29.9 points, UBL with 27.5 points and DGKC and ENGRO with 25 points and 18.8 points respectively.

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