Author: Mrs. Anjum Shahnawaz

KARACHI: The share market may remain under pressure due to coronavirus spread and reports of lockdown in major cities of the country.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited expect the equity bourse to remain under pressure on account of fast spreading Coronavirus and news regarding lockdown of major cities (Karachi and Lahore) which will keep the investors sentiment dull.

On the other hand, foreign selling in both, the equity market and debt securities, may keep the local currency under stress.

However, improvement witnessed on macroeconomic front, with the Current Account Deficit (CAD) shrinking by 71 percent YoY in first eight months of current fiscal year along with decline in international oil prices and lower inflation forecast, should bode well for overall economy in the medium term.

The benchmark KSE-100 of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is currently trading at a PER of 5.7x (2020) compared to Asia Pac regional average of 10.2x while offering a dividend yield of around 9.0 percent versus around 3.1 percent offered by the region.

The KSE-100 index took a heavy battering with the market recording its largest weekly decline of 5,393 points (points wise largest in history and in percentage terms largest decline since December 2008).

Trading began on a negative note this week with manifestation of the unstoppable Coronavirus Pandemic in Pakistan and across the globe which triggered an investor stampede.

Whereas declining international oil prices also caused panic amongst market participants as witnessed in a rout in global equities.

Albeit, local investors anxiously looked forward to the announcement of the monetary policy this week whereby the State Bank cut its benchmark policy rate by a meagre 75 basis points against higher expectations (hence met with a disappointing reaction at the index) with other countries also jumping on the bandwagon of swift monetary action.

As a result, the benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 30,667 points, down by 15 percent WoW and witnessing trading halts on 4/5 days.

Contribution to the downside was led by i) Commercial Banks (1,484 points), ii) Cements (729 points), iii) Oil and Gas Exploration Companies (537 points), iv) Power Generation and Distribution (424 points), and v) Fertilizer (408 points). Scrip wise major losers were HBL (372 points), UBL (366 points), LUCK (361 points), HUBC (334 points), and MCB (264 points). Whereas, scrip wise major gainers were PAKT (9 points), and IBFL (2 points).

Foreigners offloaded stocks worth of USD 20 million compared to a net sell of USD 23 million last week.

Major selling was witnessed in Commercial Banks (USD 6.0 million) and Cements (USD 5.0 million).

On the local front, buying was reported by Insurance Companies (USD 23.5 million) followed by Individuals (USD 19.5 million).

That said, average daily volumes for the outgoing week were down by 10 percent to 239 million shares likewise value traded decreased by 33 percent to USD 55 million.

KARACHI: The equity market gained 538 points on Friday after investors have shown interest in banking and fertilizers scrips.

The Index closed at 30,667 points as against 30,130 points showing an increase of 538 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market carried the momentum showed yesterday and opened with a large stride of +716 points having fetched 1.5 million shares.

Fertilizer, E&P and Banking sectors turned out to be major avenues where investors took interest. International crude prices also went up overnight and traded +3 percent that helped E&P scrips hitting upper circuit.

During the session the index oscillated between -226 points and +798 points, closing +538 points. Cement sector topped the volumes with 58.7 million shares followed by Banks (31.1 million) and Power (28.6 million).

Among scrips, KEL posted trading volumes of 23.4 million shares, followed by MLCF (16.6 million) and BOP (15 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+250 points), Banks (+203 points), Fertilizer (+138 points), Power (+52 points), Tobacco (+24 points), Cement (-46 points), Textile (-38 points).

Volumes declined from 308.3 million shares to 245.0 million shares (-21 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 16 percent to reach US$ 53.4 million as against US$ 63.7 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include KEL, MLCF, BOP, FCCL and UNITY, which formed 34 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively to the index include ENGRO (+107 points), HBL (+106 points), OGDC (+83 points), PPL (+83 points) and POL (+52 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include DAWH (-30 points), SNGP (-21 points), NML (-19 points), MEBL (-18 points), and MLCF (-16 points).

KARACHI: The share market witnessed sixth lower lock in second week of bear run on Thursday. However, it trims losses later in the day by losing 286 points at the closing bell.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 30,130 points as against 30,416 points showing a decline of 286 points (-0.9 percent DoD).

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market witnessed the 6th halt today when the benchmark KSE100 index dropped 1,562 points, having traded 8.5 million shares.

Overall the index lost 1964 points during the session, reaching 28,452 points, and rebounded to erase all the losses and trading 100 points green for a while, only to resume selling later on.

The index closed 286 points down from LDCP. Buying activity was largely observed in Fertilizer, Banking and Oil & Gas sector. Cement sector also saw buying activity initially which brought the cement sector scrips from lower lock to tradable range, however, selling activity brought these stocks back to lower circuits.

Cement sector led the volumes with 48.8 million shares, followed by Banks (43.3 million) and Power (36.9 million). Among scrips, KEL topped the volumes with 22.1 million, followed by UNITY (19.3 million) and BOP (18.8 million).

Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (-179 points), Power (-104 points), O&GMCs (-55 points), Textile (-53 points), Food (-48 points), Fertilizer (215 points), Banks (115 points).

Volumes increased from 186.6 million shares to 308.3 million shares (+65 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 90 percent to reach US$ 63.8 million as against US$ 33.5 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include KEL, UNITY, BOP, FCCL and MLCF, which formed 30 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively to the index include FFC (+91 points), ENGRO (+81 points), MCB (+66 points), BAHL (+52 points) and EFERT (+46 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HUBC (-95 points), LUCK (-85 points), UBL (-65 points), NESTLE (-50 points), and DGKC (-26 points).