Karachi, September 06, 2021 (PPI-OT): View from the desk

The KSE-100 Index fluctuated between a low and high of -69 and +130 points respectively, throughout the day, eventually closing down 39 points at 46,918 level as pressure took charge. A total of 418mn shares were traded during the day where TPL (5.7%), TELE (-0.4%), WTL (-3.9%), GGL (-4.5%) and ANL (-4.0%) were among the volume leaders. Selling pressure was witnessed in the banking and refinery sectors where UBL (-1.3%), HBL (-0.7%), ATRL (-2.3%), BYCO (-2.1%) and NRL (-2.2%) lost value to close in the red region.

Cement sector closed negative despite an increase in cement dispatches reported for Aug-2021 where total cement sales during the month increased by 22.77 percent to 4.336 million tons from 3.531 million tons in the same month last fiscal year. FCCL (-2.8%), CHCC (-1.4%), POWER (-1.0%) and LUCK (-0.5%) were the major losers from the sector. Going forward, we recommend investors to remain cautious and wait for clarity on the MSCI reclassification proposal which is scheduled to be announced tomorrow.