Tag: PSX

  • Stock market ends down by 65 points amid lackluster investors’ response

    Stock market ends down by 65 points amid lackluster investors’ response

    KARACHI: The stock market fell by 65 points on Monday as investors have shown lackluster response owing to rising COVID cases.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 40,504 points from last Friday’s closing of 40,569 points, losing 65 points.

    Analysts at Topline Securities, the stock market had opened the week with a lackluster session with uncertainty regarding the lockdown owing to rising COVID cases.

    The KSE-100 Index managed to close the day at 40,504.75 (down 0.16%) albeit with thin volumes. Positive news flow was there with PTI managing to secure a lead in the Gilgit-Baltistan elections, cement price per bag is expected to increase by PKR 5/bag w.e.f tomorrow and FDI for the month of October 2020 witnessed a growth of 151 percent YoY and 68 percent MoM.

    However, investors shrugged off these positive developments as rising COVID cases continued to weigh on sentiment.

    KEL was today’s volume leader with 24.9 million shares traded and the stock closed the day up 5.04 percent as the federal government sought two weeks’ time from Supreme Court of Pakistan to present a viable solution to Karachi Electric’s (KE) issues including exclusivity after 2023.

    SHEL (up 3.86 percent) also saw renewed buying interest after the company notified the exchange that the BoD have approved an increase in the Authorized Share capital from Rs1.5 billion to Rs3 billion.

    Total traded volume declined by 25 percent DoD to 181.22 million shares while total traded value clocked in at Rs6.17 billion (down 21.8 percent DoD).

  • Weekly Review: rising COVID cases may affect sentiments

    Weekly Review: rising COVID cases may affect sentiments

    KARACHI: Constant rise in coronavirus cases may discourage investors of Pakistan Stock Market (PSX) owing to likely stringent measures from the authorities to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

    Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that although economic fundamentals are headed in the right direction, global rise in COVID infection (640,000+ cases reported in a single day) continue to pose threat of fresh lockdowns globally which may crush our exports and damage the stability achieved on the external / currency front.

    That said, control in local infection may revive sentiments at the index.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of the PSX is currently trading at a PER of 7.2x (2021) compared to Asia Pac regional average of 14.8x and while offering DY of around 6.2 percent versus around 2.5 percent offered by the region.

    Although local fundamentals recovered surprising fast post initial COVID-19 slump (Current account surplus of USD 792 million during 1QFY21, influx of Remittances of over USD 2 billion for the fifth consecutive month in October 2020, LSM growth at a decent 4.81 percent during Jul-Sep’20, 4 percent appreciation in the Pak Rupee to 158.4/USD amid growing FX reserves to USD 12.7 billion), reemergence of domestic Coronavirus cases (infection peaked at 6.2 percent on Thursday; high after over 110 days) together with arbitrary second-wave theories gaining momentum in Europe and Western countries, despite impending development of a vaccine, kept performance of the local bourse mundane.

    The KSE-100 index closed at 40569 level, down by 0.4 percent / 167 points WoW.

    Sector-wise negative contributions came from i) Cements (161 points), ii) Oil & Gas Marketing Companies (72 points), and iii) Power Generation and Distribution (61 points). Scrip-wise negative contributions were led by LUCK (76 points), HUBC (34 points), and SNGP (35 points).

    On the flipside, major sectoral gains were observed in Oil and Gas Exploration (161 points), Commercial Banks (83 points), and Technology (34 points).

    Foreign selling continued this week clocking-in at USD 7.4 million compared to a net sell of USD 5.5 million last week. Selling was witnessed in Commercial Banks (USD 3.7 million) and Cement (USD 2.7 million).

    On the domestic front, major buying was reported by Individuals (USD 7.5 million and Banks / DFIs (USD 3.3 million).

    Average volumes arrived at 290 million shares (down by 21 percent WoW) while average value traded settled at USD 66 million (down by 16 percent WoW).

  • Share market witnesses narrow range trading

    Share market witnesses narrow range trading

    KARACHI: The share market experienced a day of fluctuating activity on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ending with a marginal gain of 5 points. The index closed at 40,569 points, compared to the previous day’s closing of 40,564 points, reflecting the restrained movement throughout the session.

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  • Stocks plunge by 633 amid rising coronavirus cases

    Stocks plunge by 633 amid rising coronavirus cases

    KARACHI: The stock market witnessed a decline of 633 points on Thursday owing to surge in cases of coronavirus in the country.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended at 40,564 points as against previous day’s closing of 41,197 points, showing a decline of 633 points.

    Analysts at KASB Research said that Pakistan Stocks were remained under pressure throughout the day amid a deteriorating coronavirus situation in the country.

    Investors feared that an intensifying pandemic situation and any new restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus will have a negative impact on the economy.

    However, optimism about a Covid-19 vaccine pushed the market up at the start of the week. But the excitement has been seen fading away in the last 2 sessions as investors and health experts raise questions about when it may become available for widespread use.

    “We expect that the rising coronavirus cases and risk of fresh restrictions by the government will keep the market jittery in the coming days,” the analysts said.

    Analysts at Topline Securities Limited said that after a sideway opening benchmark KSE100 Index slid making an intraday low of 704 points.

    Initial negativity came from both SUI’s as OGRA rip unaccounted Gas UFG losses for both RLNG consumers for both SUI’s resultantly SNGP and SSGC closed 7.5 percent and 5.79 percent lower respectively.

    Further, Banks, E&Ps and Cements were the major laggards in today’s trading session. Volumes remained thin with total volume clocking in at 325 million shares while total traded value for the day stood at Rs. 11.19 billion. UNITY was today’s volume leader with 29.4 million shares traded.

  • Stock market gains 44 points amid rang bound trading

    Stock market gains 44 points amid rang bound trading

    KARACHI: The stock market gained 44 points on Wednesday amid range bound trading during the day.

    The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at 41,197 points as against 41,153 points showing an increase of 44 points.

    Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market traded range bound today between +177 points and -253 points, closing the session +44 points.

    International crude oil prices (+3.5 percent) helped E&P sector to post hefty price gains, however, market’s fear of unknown that emanates from developing political wrangling between the Opposition and the Incumbent Govt. kept the increase in Index in check.

    Cement Sector stocks saw selling pressure on the expectation of decline in monthly dispatches based on the first week of November. Fertilizer, O&GMCs and Banking sector stocks remained subdued due to somber investor sentiment.

    Overall volumes also dropped over the day due to investor sentiment. Among scrips, BIPL topped the volumes with 31.5 million shares, followed by TRG (25 million) and KEL (16.3 million).

    Volumes declined from 355.9 million shares to 244.3 million shares (-31 percent DoD). Average traded value also declined by 43 percent to reach US$ 54.6 million as against US$ 95.5 million.

    Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (+130 points), Banks (+35 points), Technology (+22 points), Cement (-62 points) and Power (-11 points).

    Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include BIPL, TRG, KEL, ASC and POWER, which formed 42 percent of total volumes.

    Stocks that contributed positively to the index include OGDC (+55 points), PPL (+37 points), HBL (+36 points), POL (+25 points) and TRG (+16 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include LUCK (-25 points), ENGRO (-17 points), MLCF (-9 points), CHCC (-8 points) and KEL (-8 points).

  • Stock market gains 369 points on COVID vaccines announcement

    Stock market gains 369 points on COVID vaccines announcement

    The stock market experienced a surge on Tuesday, gaining 369 points amid positive sentiment following an announcement from an international pharmaceutical company regarding a new COVID-19 vaccine.

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  • Share market gains 52 points in range bound trading

    Share market gains 52 points in range bound trading

    The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a modest gain of 52 points on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index closing at 40,784 points, up from the previous day’s close of 40,732 points. The day’s trading was characterized by a range-bound session, with the index fluctuating between a high of +212 points and a low of -135 points.

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  • Weekly Review: market likely move positive on improvement economic indicators

    Weekly Review: market likely move positive on improvement economic indicators

    KARACHI: The stock exchange likely to move positive during upcoming week on the back of improved macro-economic front.

    Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market to remain green due to reasons included: improvement on the macro-economic front amid reduction in trade deficit (rising exports and decreasing imports); strengthening PKR/USD parity; no expectation of immediate rate hike; and robust dispatches reported by cyclical sectors.

    On the other hand, upcoming auto data (released by PAMA) is expected to attract investors’ interest in the automobile sector.

    However, a surprise swing in the US elections may disrupt global investors’ confidence together with rising global coronavirus cases as daily cases crossed 600,000 mark for the first time on November 05, 2020, exerting pressure on countries to impose a lockdown.

    The benchmark KSE-100 is currently trading at a PER of 7.2x (2021) compared to Asia Pac regional average of 14.1x while offering a dividend yield of ~6.2 percent versus ~2.6 percent offered by the region.

    This week trading commenced on a negative note and the index nosedived by 776 points on Monday due to i) continuous surge in Covid-19 cases together with rising infection ratio from 2 percent per day to 4 percent, ii) dismissal of review petition on GIDC case by the Honorable supreme court, and iii) budding pressure on global equities and commodities in anticipation of the US presidential election.

    However, the negative performance was short lived as the index displayed a rebound on Tuesday and increased by 1,369 points (highest day increase after April 17, 2020) as i) nation-wide lockdown was ruled out by the NCOC, ii) announcement of an electricity relief package for industrial sector by Prime Minister, iii) CPI at 8.9 percent (lower then anticipation), and iv) recovery in global equities with Biden in the lead in US elections.

    As a result, the KSE-100 index closed at 40,732 points, up by 844 points or 2.11 percent WoW.

    Contribution to the upside was led by i) Commercial Banks (203 points), ii) Oil and Gas Exploration Companies (149 points), iii) Technology and Communication (97 points), iv) Cement (74 points), and v) Fertilizer (57 points). Scrip-wise major gainers were POL (90 points), TRG (83 points), MEBL (61 points), BAFL (35 points), and HMB (33 points). Whereas, scrip-wise major losers were HBL (38 points), FFC (14 points) PAKT (13 points), MUREB (6 points) and APL (6 points).

    Foreigners offloaded stocks worth of USD 5.50 million compared to a net sell of USD 21.34 million last week. Major selling was witnessed in Commercial Banks (USD 3.46 million) and E&P (USD 1.86 million). On the local front, buying was reported by Individuals (USD 5.37 million) followed by Insurance Co. (USD 3.63 million). That said, average daily volumes and traded value for the outgoing week were down by 21 percent and 20 percent to 368 million shares and USD 79 million, respectively.

  • Share market sheds 340 points on profit taking

    Share market sheds 340 points on profit taking

    Karachi, Pakistan – The share market experienced a sharp decline on Friday, shedding 340 points due to selling pressure across various sectors.

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  • Stock market gains 789 points amid rise in international oil prices

    Stock market gains 789 points amid rise in international oil prices

    The stock market recorded a significant rise on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) gaining 789 points. The index closed at 41,071 points, up from 40,282 points, fueled by gains in international oil prices and strong performance in regional stock markets.

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