Category: Stock & Commodity

KARACHI: The change in key policy rate to be announced by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on May 20 will set the market trend during the next week.

“With monetary policy to be announced in the coming week investors are most likely to have a cautious approach and bearish sentiments may persist,” analysts at Arif Habib Limited said on Saturday.

Given uncertainty in PKR/USD parity, macro-economic concerns and lack of positive triggers we expect the market to trade range bound. However, attractive valuation may revive investor sentiments.

The analysts said that the market continued to bleed this week, commencing on a negative note.

The expectation of positive sentiments upon agreement of IMF Program did not materialize.

Investors remained cautious due to tough measures attached with the program.

However, investors took a sigh of relief mid-week owing to Pakistan’s emerging market status being retained, positive news regarding offshore drilling (final stages) and approval of amnesty scheme by the cabinet.

The momentum, however, was short lived as the Pak Rupee witnessed depreciation against the USD and concerns persisted over a significant rate hike in the upcoming monetary policy statement.

The market shed 1,550 points (down by 4.5 percent) WoW, closing at 33,166 points.

Negative sector-wise contributions came from i) Fertilizers (335 points), ii) Cements (237 points), iii) Commercial Banks (229 points), iv) Oil & Gas Marketing Companies (219 points) and v) Pharmaceuticals (92 points).

Whereas, sectors that contributed positively include i) Oil & Gas Exploration Companies (83 points) and ii) Power Generation (19 points).

Scrip-wise negative contributions came from FFC (161 points), PSO (85 points), ENGRO (80 points) and HBL (76 points). Whereas, positive scrip-wise contributions came from PPL (109 points), HUBC (84 points), and POL (49 points).

Foreign buying continued this week clocking-in at USD 8.2 million compared to a net buy of USD 10.4 million last week. Buying was witnessed in Commercial Banks (USD 8.2 million) and Cement (USD 5.6 million).

On the domestic front, major selling was reported by Mutual Funds (USD 19.1 million) and Insurance Companies (USD 2.4 million). Average Volumes settled at 107 million shares (up by 46 percent WoW) while value traded clocked in at USD 29 million (up by 29 percent WoW).

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed another day of significant decline as the benchmark KSE-100 index lost 805 points, closing at 33,167 points compared to 33,971 points the previous day.

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KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Market (PSX) on Thursday fell by 321 points in panic selling over significant decline of rupee against dollar.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of PSX closed at 33,971 points as against 34,292 points showing a decline of 321 points.

Analysts at all the gains made yesterday got eroded in early trading. During the session, the index slid by 717 points however, recovered by the end resulting in closing of – 321 points.

Panic selling ensued increase of Dollar in inter-bank market.

The spread widened in early trades that caused investors to get jittery, which was followed by across the board selling.

Cement, Steel and Auto Sector scrips received most of bantering whereas selling was generally observed in scrips that positively relate to increase in rupee dollar parity. Buying activity was seen mid day that resulted in recovery of ~500 points.

By the end of session, SBP’s notification for release of Monetary policy on May 20.

Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+78 points), Power (+16 points), Banks (-112 points), Cement (-69 points), O&GMCs (-62 points), Fertilizer (-49 points), Pharma (-21 points).

Volumes declined from 111 million shares to 109 million shares (-2 percent DoD). Average traded value however, declined by 16 percent DoD to reach US$ 26.5 million as against US$ 31.5 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include KEL, PIBTL, UNITY, TRG and PSX, which formed 35 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively include POL (+55 points), PPL (+41 points), HUBC (+27 points), PAKT (+9 points) and NESTLE (+6 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HBL (-38 points), LUCK (-25 points), PSO (-23 points), MCB (-21 points) and OGDC (-19 points).

KARACHI: The stock exchange gained 406 points on Wednesday owing to introduction of tax amnesty scheme by the government for undeclared assets.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 34,291 points as against 33,885 points showing an increase of 406 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market made a positive move today, courtesy of Amnesty Scheme as well as news of successful drilling at Kekra 1.

Resultantly, E&P scrips performed well and Investors in general took positive bets on Fertilizer, Cement, Banks and Steel. Cement sector topped the volumes table with 19.4 million shares, followed by Banks (14 million) and Power (11.9 million).

Investors interest in HUBC kept the price up consecutively since yesterday and similar interest was seen in KEL, which also topped the volumes. OGDC, PPL and POL nonetheless, became the star performers today.

Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+208 points), Power (+62 points), Fertilizer (+55 points), O&GMCs (+44 points), Pharma (+23 points), Food (-37 points) Banks (-18 points).

Volumes increased slightly from 105.7 million shares to 110.9 million shares (+5 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 4 percent to reach US$ 31.5 million as against US$ 30.3 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include KEL, MLCF, BOP, OGDC and LOTCHEM, which formed 33 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively include PPL (+94 points), POL (+52 points), OGDC (+43 points), HUBC (+42 points) and EFERT (+30 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include NESTLE (-37 points), HBL (-26 points), MCB (-13 points), DGKC (-10 points) and ICI (-6 points).

KARACHI: The stock market ended down 15 points on Tuesday despite last hour buying activities.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 33,885 points as against 33,900 points showing a decline of 15 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market improved slightly and although the index oscillated between -209 points and +167 points (~350 points).

Last half hour of trading, as has been the case lately, was again interesting which saw buying activity in index drivers such as ENGRO, but also saw buying in SEARL, ABL that pulled up the index. Cement sector led the volumes table with 17.6 million shares, followed by Power (11 million) and Banks (8.8 million).

Scrip wise activity shows KEL topping the volumes with 7 million shares followed by UNITY and MLCF.

Cement sector has seen attrition since past week and today was no different which saw key cement scrips trading at lower circuits for instance PIOC, MLCF, DGKC etc. Collectively, Banks and E&P scrips performed well today, whereas O&GMCs (PSO), and Cement contributed to the downside.

Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+117 points), Banks (+80 points), Power (+30 points), O&GMCs (-64 points), Cement (-39 points), Fertilizer (-25 points), Pharma (-20 points), Textile (-20 points).

Volumes registered a slight decline of 13 percent DoD to reach 105.7 million as against 121.2 million. Average traded value also declined by 19 percent to reach US$ 30.3 million as against US$ 37.5 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include KEL, UNITY, MLCF, PIBTL and TRG, which formed 28 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively include PPL (+68 points), HUBC (+27 points), POL (+27 points), UBL (+23 points) and MCB (+19pt). Stocks that contributed negatively include PSO (-30 points), DAWH (-27 points), DGKC (-15 points), COLG (-12 points) and FFC (-10 points).

KARACHI: The stock exchange plunged by 816 points on Monday on report of finalization of loan program with IMF.

The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 33,900 points as against 34,717 points showing a decline of 816 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that index saw a major draw down of 937 points, post Pakistan entering IMF program.

The sessions commenced on a positive note and market at first increased by 511 points before plunging ~1400 points.

Last half hour of trading showed some buying activity that resulted in an unadjusted closing of -784 points.

Stocks, all and sundry, became target of Investors’ wrath. Besides conclusion of IMF program, the market was also faced with MSCI Review that had negative implications for stocks that form part of MSCI EM Index.

Several stocks hit lower circuit, important among those included SSGC, MLCF, PIOC, DGKC, GHNI etc. Banking sector remained unscathed in relative terms and scrips like MCB, HBL, UBL, MEBL traded in green zone.

Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (-159 points), Fertilizer (-157 points), Banks (-93 points), O&GMCs (-69 points) and Cement (-68 points).

Volumes increased significantly from 39.3 million shares to 121.2 million shares (+209 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 202 percent DoD to reach US$ 37.5 million as against US$ 12.4 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include KEL, MLCF, BOP, PIBTL, and UNITY, which formed 29 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively include MCB (+18 points), HUBC (+12 points), NATF (+3 points), SYS (+3 points) and SRVI (+1pt). Stocks that contributed negatively include FFC (-73 points), OGDC (-51 points), POL (-47 points), ENGRO (-36 points) and PPL (-36 points).

KARACHI: With the IMF program expected to be announced soon, investor sentiment can be expected to rebound, analysts said on Saturday.

The analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that clarity over the economic direction from the IMF program is likely to resuscitate confidence of investors.

As Ramadan started this week, the local bourse continued its bearish trend with volumes continuing to slump. Talks between GoP and IMF are in the final round and an announcement of a program can be expected any time soon.

Concerns of further interest rate hikes, depreciation of the PKR and fiscal consolidation measures (revision in energy prices, withdrawal of subsidies/tax concessions etc) kept the investment sentiment negative. The KSE-100 index closed at 34,717 points (-1,406 points WoW), down 3.9 percent WoW.

Negative sector-wise contributions came from i) Fertilizers (313 points), ii) Oil & Gas Exploration Companies (284 points), iii) Cements (130 points), iv) Pharmaceuticals (113 points) and v) Oil & Gas Marketing Companies (108 points). Scrip-wise negative contributions came from ENGRO (131 points), PPL (104 points), SEARL (84 points) and MARI (83 points). Whereas, positive scrip-wise contributions came from NESTLE (32 points), HBL (21 points), and COLG (11 points).

Foreign buying continued this week clocking-in at USD 10.4mn compared to a net buy of USD 4.8mn last week. Buying was witnessed in Commercial Banks (USD 10.9mn) and Cement (USD 1.0mn). On the domestic front, major selling was reported by Mutual Funds (USD 10.7mn) and Insurance Companies (USD 5.7mn). Average Volumes settled at 74mn shares (down by 30 percent WoW) while value traded clocked in at USD 23mn (down by 22 percent WoW).

Other major news: i) Coal-fired power project’s receivables swell to $150mln, ii) Move to withdraw Rs700bn tax exemptions, says official, iii) Chaos in FBR as govt aims for budget on May 22, iv) Private sector tax expert named FBR chairman, and v) Public debt surges Rs3.6 trillion to a hefty Rs27.8 trillion.

KARACHI: The equity market fell by 171 points on Friday owing to reports of IMF deal and its repercussions on cost of doing business.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 34,716 points as against 34,888 points showing a decline of 171 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market was declined further today and traded below 35,000 level throughout the day.

During the session, the index lost a total of 240 points, but recovered slightly by end to show a net decline of 180 points (unadjusted). Cement, Banks, OMCs, Refinery and E&P contributed to selling pressure.

Overall volumes remained anemically low at 39 million shares, topped by KEL (4.8 million), followed by MLCF (2.7 million) and SEARL (1.9 million).

IMF’s bailout package was the talk of the town, where the sources from Finance Ministry (as relayed by TV channels) were hinting that the deal is just around the corner and the conditionalities of the deal are mainly to the detriment of cost of doing business.

Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (-62 points), Fertilizer (-50 points), O&GMCs (-24 points), Cement (-24 points), Cement (-21 points), Food (+26 points).

Volumes declined significantly from 39.3 million shares as against 78.1 million shares (-50 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 53 percent to reach US$ 12.4 million as against US$ 26.3 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include KEL, MLCF, SEARL, LOTCHEM and UNITY, which formed 33 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively include NESTLE (+34 points), MCB (+24 points), ABL (+15 points), MTL (+13 points) and THALL (+9 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include DAWH (-29 points), POL (-25 points), ENGRO (-19 points), PPL (-19 points) and SEARL (-15 points).

KARACHI: The stock market extended losses on Thursday and fell by 147 points amid continued selling pressure.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 34,887 points as against 35,035 points showing a decline of 147 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that despite positive movement in index early today, the market could not sustain the momentum and selling resumed, which took the index trading below 35,000 level.

Market traded in a narrow band between +265 points and -206 points and ended -116 points (un adjusted). OMCs, Cement, E&P, Steel improved over the day, whereas Banking sector took the toll from selling in HBL, UBL and MCB.

Cement sector performed on the back of rumours relating to sales quota dispute amongst Cement Manufacturers that saw mid cap Cement stocks hitting upper circuit, however, selling ensued that brought price levels down. Similarly, Auto sector remained under selling pressure due to macro-economic concerns.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Banks (-132 points), Fertilizer (-44 points), Autos (-28 points), Chemical (-21 points), Food (-20 points), Cement (+44 points), Power (+28 points), O&GMCs (+21 points), E&P (+21 points).

Volumes declined from 113 million shares to 78 million shares (-31 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 18 percent to reach US$ 26.4 million as against US$ 32.3 million.

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include MLCF, SNGP, LOTCHEM, KEL and EFERT, which formed 29 percent of total volumes.

Stocks that contributed positively include OGDC (+25 points), HUBC (+21 points), LUCK (+17 points), SNGP (+17 points) and PPL (+17 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include MCB (-46 points), HBL (-41 points), MARI (-27 points), NESTLE (-24 points) and UBL (-24 points).