Weekly Review

The market ended the week down 1534pts, 4.7pc lower to close at 31000. Global stocks volatility due to worsening economic conditions in China, inquiries against stockbrokers locally and collapsing crude oil prices did much to keep investors away giving free rein to bears. The government announced closure of a long-awaited country to country LNG deal with Qatar. Cement offtake numbers came in strong. In the last two weeks the market has lost 700pts and 1534pts. That's a significant 2234pts or 6.7pc.

This week's top performing active stocks was Ghandara Industries closing up 22pc. DGKC, MLCF and FCCL also did well closing only marginally lower for the week. Every other stock closed negative. The worst affected were TRG, POL, MARI, SSGC, PIBTL and JSCL. They lost 20, 18, 17, 12, 13 and 20pc respectively. Newsflow for regional markets continues to be negative and that could further weaken the local bourse. Support could emanate from results announcements as December 2015 results start to trickle in,