KARACHI: The equity market likely to stay range bound during next week, analysts at Arif Habib Limited said.
The market is expected to be range bound in upcoming week. Moreover, the new government is in talks with IMF for revival of program. Any breakthrough in this regarding is likely generate activity in market.
READ MORE: Stocks end down 100 points in range-bound trading
Keeping in view the ongoing result season, certain sectors and scrips are expected to stay in the limelight.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is currently trading at a PER of 4.9x (2022) compared to Asia Pacific regional average of 12.8x while offering a dividend yield of 8.5 per cent versus 2.7 per cent offered by the region.
The market commenced on a positive note this week. With a jump in international oil prices, exploration and production scrips remained in the limelight.
READ MORE: Stocks slide 390 points on volatile exchange rate
However, the positive momentum couldn’t sustain for long over economic concerns such as PKR depreciation (closing the week at PKR 186.70) and IMF program resumption.
Meanwhile, increase in trade deficit widen to USD 3.6bn during March 2022 further exerted pressure on the scrips. Furthermore, downward revision of growth target forecast to 4 per cent by World Bank and rise in treasury bill yields (70bps) further suppressed the sentiment.
READ MORE: Pakistan stocks shed 62 points on profit taking
The bourse closed at 45,553 points, shedding 1,049 points (down by 2.3 per cent) WoW.
Sector-wise negative contributions came from i) Commercial Banks (396 points), ii) Cement (221 points), iii) Technology & Communication (99 points), iv) Power Generation & Distribution (74 points), and v) Miscellaneous (72 points).
Whereas, sectors which contributed positively were i) Oil & Gas Exploration Companies (88 points), ii) Chemical (31 points), iii) Fertilizer (10 points), iv) Glass & Ceramics (3 points), and v) Textile Spinning (1 points). Scrip-wise negative contributors were HBL (90 points), BAHL (85 points), LUCK (70 points), SYS (66 points) and PSEL (66 points). Meanwhile, scrip-wise positive contribution came from OGDC (56 points), FFC (45 points), PPL (43 points), LOTCHEM (28 points), and EFERT (27 points).
READ MORE: Dollar ends near PKR 187 in interbank market
Foreign selling was witnessed this week, clocking-in at USD 0.97 million compared to a net buy of USD 1.29 million last week. Major selling was witnessed in Commercial Banks (USD 1.74 million) and Food and Personal Care Products (USD 0.14 million).
On the local front, buying was reported by Individuals (USD 7.03 million) followed by Companies (USD 0.87 million). Average volumes clocked-in at 225 million shares (down by 53 per cent WoW) while average value traded settled at USD 41 million (down by 39 per cent WoW).
