KARACHI: The stock market may witnessed positive sentiments next week on expectation of strong results. However, concerns over COVID-19 fourth may keep the sentiment skittish, said analysts at Arif Habib Limited.
Furthermore, prevailing tension in Afghanistan with continuing withdrawal of US army by end of this month may exert pressure on the local bourse.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is currently trading at a PER of 6.6x (2021) compared to Asia Pac regional average of 16.0x while offering a dividend yield of 6.6 per cent versus 2.4 per cent offered by the region.
The market commenced on a negative note given mounting concerns over current account. Moreover, recent depreciation of Pak Rupee against USD (closing at PKR 164) kept the momentum weak.
During the week, the market bounced back and cushioned the dip amid robust financial results of some scrips, massive incentives approved by Federal Govt. for technology and telecom sector, robust remittances (USD 2.7 billion in July 2021) and 114 per cent YoY surge in automobile sales in July 2021.
Albeit, the KSE-100 closed at 47,170 points, shedding 320 points (down by 0.7 per cent) WoW.
Sector-wise negative contributions came from i) Cement (112 points), ii) Oil & Gas Marketing Companies (67 points), iii) Oil & Gas Exploration (52 points), iv) Power Generation & Distribution (41 points) and v) Fertilizer (39 points).
Whereas, the sectors that contributed positively included i) Technology & Communication (47 points) and ii) Food & Personal Care Products (37 points). Scrip-wise negative contributors were LUCK (43 points), PPL (32 points), HUBC (32 points), PSO (32 points) and OGDC (31 points). Meanwhile, scrip-wise positive contribution came from TRG (83 points), MEBL (46 points), and FCEPL (44 points).
Foreign buying continued this week, clocking at USD 4.0 million against a net buy of USD 3.1 million last week. Buying was witnessed in Technology (USD 4.2 million), Banks (USD 0.9 million) and Fertilizer (USD 0.3 million). On the domestic front, major selling was reported by Insurance (USD 6.6 million) and Individuals (USD 3.0 million). Average volumes clocked-in at 307 million shares (down by 33 per cent WoW) while average value traded settled at USD 73 million (down by 14 per cent WoW).
