KARACHI: First Paramount Modaraba, managed by Paramount Investments Limited, announced the launch of its new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering Financing of Terrorism (CFT) screening facility on Wednesday. This initiative aims to support the financial sector and other businesses in Pakistan in safeguarding themselves from the risks of money laundering and financial crimes.
(more…)Category: Stock & Commodity
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Share market falls by 203 points on FATF, inflation concerns
KARACHI: The share market fell by 203 points on Tuesday owing to rising concerns over FATF upcoming meeting and rising inflation number.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 40,007 points as against 40,210 points showing a decline of 203 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market continued the downtrend today following yesterday’s attrition on account of FATF concerns, which was further worsened by an uptick in inflation numbers.
Overall, the index lost 564 points but partly recovered by the end of session to close -203 points.
Selling was observed almost across the board, with the exception of PSO, HBL, UNITY, KEL among stocks which traded positive for better part of the session.
Buying activity in LUCK close to end of session also contributed to the recovery in lost points. HASCOL topped the volumes with 43.8 million shares, followed by TRG (28.5 million) and UNITY (19.1 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (-68 points), Banks (-32 points), Fertilizer (-30 points), Power (-25 points) and Cement (-19 points).
Volumes declined from 377.6 million shares to 290.1 million shares (-23 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 24 percent to reach US$ 59.9 million as against US$ 78.9 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HASCOL, TRG, UNITY, KEL and PIBTL, which formed 42 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include HBL (+17 points), TRG (+8 points), LUCK (+8 points), DAWH (+8 points) and KEL (+8 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HUBC (-32 points), PPL (-27 points), OGDC (-24 points), MCB (-23 points) and ENGRO (-21 points).
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Stock market sheds 589 points on profit booking
KARACHI: The stock market fell by 589 points on Monday as investors opted for profit booking during the day.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 40,210 points as against 40,798 points showing a decline of 589 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market braced the impact of APG’s (Asia Pacific Group) decision to maintain Pakistan’s position on Enhanced Follow-up List, which was primarily an evaluation based on Pakistan’s performance as of February 2020.
The plenary session is scheduled to be held during October 21-23, 2020.
The index which added another 249 points during the session today, on top of 2230 points since recent low, all of a sudden felt quite heavy to retail investors who considered it best to book profit and close positions.
Among scrips, POWER topped the volumes with 50.4 million shares, followed by HASCOL (41.8 million) and TRG (23.4 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (-98 points), Cement (-85 points), Banks (-72 points), O&GMCs (-50 points) and Power (-48 points).
Volumes increased from 358.8 million shares to 377.6 million shares (+5 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 8 percent to reach US$ 79 million as against US$ 72.8 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include POWER, HASCOL, TRG, UNITY and JSCL, which formed 41 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include ANL (+5 points), BAHL (+4 points), FCEPL (+4 points), MTL (+4 points) and AGP (+4 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include OGDC (-45 points), HBL (-38 points), HUBC (-38 points), TRG (-35 points) and PPL (-32 points).
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Weekly Review: Political uncertainty, FATF upcoming review remain major concerns for market
KARACHI: The market may move next week with major concerns of investors related to political uncertainty in the country and upcoming review of Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
However, analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market to remain green due to: Higher interest of local individuals in the market; expectation of better results especially for Cements, OMCs, E&Ps, Autos, Textile, Technology, Steel, Chemicals, and Consumer Goods; improvement on macro-economic front amid strengthening PKR/USD parity; and Coronavirus daily infection ratio continuing to remain low.
On the other hand, upcoming key announcements like Automobile sales data (released by PAMA) might attract investors’ interest in automobile sector.
However, key concerns remain: FATF outcome which is expected this month; Higher current account deficit expected for September 2020; Political uncertainty; and Increase in gas and electricity tariffs.
The benchmark KSE-100 of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is currently trading at a PER of 7.4x (2021) compared to Asia Pac regional average of 14.0x while offering a dividend yield of around 6.2 percent versus 2.7 percent offered by the region.
This week trading commenced on a negative note due to i) Release of CPI by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics at 9.04 percent which was higher than market consensus, Redemption in mutual funds, Political noise on account of opposition parties’ alliance under the banner of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), Increase in Trade deficit by 37 percent MoM to USD 2.39 billion in September 2020, and Pressure on global equities.
On Tuesday, negative performance remained short lived attributable to international oil prices (WTI) increasing by 5 percent DoD (benefitting E&P scrips) and robust cement dispatches which improved investors sentiments in cyclical sectors.
As a result, the KSE-100 index closed at 40,798 points, up by 728 points or 1.82 percent WoW.
Contribution to the upside was led by i) Cements (164 points), ii) Commercial Banks (127 points), iii) Oil and Gas Exploration Companies (94 points), iv) Oil and Gas Marketing Companies (76 points), and v) Textile Composite (61 points). Scrip-wise major gainers were HBL (86 points), OGDC (71 points), PSO (66 points), UBL (65 points), and LUCK (45 points). Whereas, scrip-wise major losers were COLG (32 points), BAHL (31 points) KEL (21 points), NBP (15 points) and PAKT (13 points).
Foreigners offloaded stocks worth of USD 7.45 million compared to a net sell of USD 8.25 million last week. Major selling was witnessed in Commercial Banks (USD 2.48 million) and E&P (USD 2.15 million). On the local front, buying was reported by Banks / DFIs (USD 7.14 million) followed by Insurance Companies (USD 6.63 million). Average volumes arrived at 417 million shares (up by 7 percent WoW) while average value traded settled at USD 81 million (down by 2 percent WoW).
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Stock market gains 445 points as positive sentiments prevail
KARACHI: The stock market gained 445 points on Friday as positive sentiments prevailed during the trading.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 40,798 points as against 40,354 points showing an increase of 445 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market opened on a positive note today, and after dipping 46 points earlier in the session, the index rebounded with the same vigor as observed in the past 2 sessions.
Overall, the Index posted an increase of 2230 points since the recent bottom touched on October 6, 2020. Banking and E&P sectors performed well on the back of quarterly earnings as well as an increase in international crude oil prices.
Among scrips, HASCOL led the volumes with 53.9 million shares, followed by UNITY (34.9 million) and TRG (21.4 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (+136 points), E&P (+88 points), Power (+44 points), Textile (+35 points), Autos (+35 points).
Volumes declined from 476.8 million shares to 358.8 million shares (-25 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 24 percent to reach US$ 72.8 million as against US$ 96.2 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HASCOL, UNITY, TRG, BOP and WTL, which formed 39 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include HBL (+64 points), HUBC (+47 points), OGDC (+31 points), PPL (+29 points) and TRG (+27 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include PAKT (-14 points), HASCOL (-12 points), KEL (-5 points), NESTLE (-5 points) and ABOT (-4 points).
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Agha Steel’s IPO receives overwhelming response
KARACHI: The Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Agha Steel has received overwhelming response from investors as it was oversubscribed at the book building phase on Wednesday.
The IPO received an overwhelming response from institutional investors and high net worth individuals as the strike price clocked in at Rs32 per share, higher than the floor price of Rs30, a statement said.
The book-building phase of the Initial Public Offer (IPO) of Agha Steel concluded with investors oversubscribing it by as much as 1.63 times.
This means Agha Steel is going to raise Rs3.8 billion in total, making it the largest IPO in the steel sector and the second-largest IPO in the private sector.
Brokers and investment advisory firms had issued almost unanimous calls to ‘subscribe,’ which resulted in investor demand amounting to Rs4.4 billion against the IPO’s book-building size of Rs2.7 billion.
The general public will subscribe to the remaining 30 million shares (25 percent of the total offer size) on Oct 14-15 at the strike price of Rs32.
The company will use IPO proceeds to finance the expansion of its re-rolling capacity from 250,000 metric tons to 650,000 MT. It will increase the reinforcing bar production capacity by 160 per cent.
Brokerage houses anticipate steady growth in the company’s bottom line owing to a substantial rise in construction activities across the country. The main product of Agha Steel is reinforcing bars that are used in the construction of megastructures, roads, bridges, skyscrapers and homes.
In a research report last week, AL Habib Capital Markets stated that it expected the share price of Agha Steel to hover around Rs57 by June 2022. The target prices stated by Pearl Securities and KASB Securities are Rs50 and Rs42, respectively.
In a message on social media, Agha Steel CEO Hussain Iqbal Agha expressed his gratitude to investors and their historic overwhelming response. He vowed to ensure growth of their shareholders’ equity.
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Stock market rebounds with 723 points on buying activities
KARACHI: The stock market rebounded on Wednesday and gained 723 points as significant buying activities seen during the day.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 39,850 points as against 39,127 points showing an increase of 723 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market finally made a positive move today, which was jittery in the beginning but solidified by mid-day to post a total gain of 793 points and closing the index +723 points.
Buying activity was observed across the board but had major impact on Cement sector, especially DGKC and LUCK. SBP’s notification to transfer Federal government related deposits in part from commercial banking system to SBP caused selling pressure in BOP and NBP.
A number of mid-cap stocks (usually traded in high volumes) like UNITY, TRG and HASCOL traded at and near upper circuits in the later part of the session.
The rebound in Index is among other reasons also attributed to adjustment / settlement of CGT lately demanded by NCCPL from Investors which had negative impact on investor sentiment. Among scrips, HASCOL topped the volumes with 59.7 million shares, followed by UNITY (34.5 million) and TRG (23.9 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Cement (+133 points), Pharma (+74 points), O&GMCs (+66 points), Technology (+65 points) and Banks (+58 points).
Volumes increased from 406 million shares to 432.0 million shares (+6 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 9 percent to reach US$ 82.5 million as against US$ 75.4 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HASCOL, UNITY, TRG, FFL and POWER, which formed 36 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include LUCK (+46 points), SEARL (+39 points), TRG (+32 points), ENGRO (+32 points) and MCB (+27 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include NBP (-16 points), PMPK (-7 points), HGFA (-4 points), FFC (-4 points) and HMB (-3 points).
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Stock market gains 55 points amid selling pressure
KARACHI: The stock market posted a gain of 55 points on Tuesday, recovering from a significant fall earlier in the day. The benchmark KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 39,127 points, up from 39,072 points, marking an increase of 55 points.
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MoU signed for digital platform to support Mutual Fund Industry
The Mutual Funds Association of Pakistan (MUFAP) and the Central Depository Company (CDC) of Pakistan Limited, through its subsidiary ITMinds Limited, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop and implement a state-of-the-art digital platform.
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Share market plunges by around 1000 points on rising political uncertainty
KARACHI: The share market fell by around 1,000 points on Monday due to increase in headline inflation and rising uncertainty on political front.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 39,072 points as against 40,070 points showing a decline of 998 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market lost another 1206 points during the session, especially in the last half hour of trading.
Over the weekend, release of CPI data hinted an increase in Policy rate as the negative real interests have increased post increase in CPI.
Political uncertainty, on the other hand, has also caused panic amongst Investors.
Gradual redemptions from Mutual Fund investors have so far resulted in market meltdown, however, non-blue chip stocks as well as off-board scrips have sustained heavy losses in terms of drop in prices as compared to blue chip stocks from their recent highs.
Selling activity was observed almost across the board, with major contribution from E&P, Banks, O&GMCs sectors. Amongst scrips, HASCOL topped the volumes with 60.4 million shares, followed by UNITY (31.9 million) and KEL (29.1 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-130 points), Power (-113 points), Fertilizer (-111 points), E&P (-103 points) and O&GMCs (-71 points).
Volumes increased from 348.6 million shares to 409.9 million shares (+18 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 1 percent to reach US$ 76.5 million as against US$ 75.6 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HASCOL, UNITY, KEL, TRG and PIBTL, which formed 39 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively to the index include DAWH (+8 points), GHGL (+4 points), KOHC (+1 points), FML (+1 points) and ATLH (+0 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HUBC (-74 points), ENGRO (-56 points), PPL (-50 points), TRG (-36 points) and COLG (-32 points).