Today's Market

The market ended up 142pts to close at 39806. Turnover was 242mln while value traded was Rs 12.3bln, both up under 10pc from yesterday. With flows turning positive this week the index has put on a 1pc gain so far this week.

Movement was positive on the start of trading with the index gaining 200pts before surrendering some of its gains toward the end. Strong cement sales numbers for July helped sentiment. Cements edged higher with LUCK leading the way up 3pc.EFERT and MCB announced quarterly EPS, largely in line with expectations though Efert surprised with a Rs 2 dividend payout.

With still more results to come, 40000 index is within striking distance.

Top performers for the day were Glaxo, ABOT, HTL, AKZO and SITC rising almost 5pc. Foreign outflow for the day was USD8.1 mln