KARACHI: The market may witness positive activities during next week due to budgetary measures taken by the government for revival of ailing economy.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market to remain green due to expectation of budgetary measures focusing on reviving an ailing economy following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rising cases of Coronavirus in Pakistan may again lead to a strict lockdown which would once again put pressure on the index.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is currently trading at a PER of 7.2x (2020) compared to Asia Pac regional average of 12.5x while offering a dividend yield of ~8.1 percent versus ~2.9 percent offered by the region.
The market commenced on a positive note, continuing unprecedented rally witnessed from the last week. Optimism in the bourse was sourced from: i) Surge in international oil prices by 5 percent during the week benefitting the E&P sector, ii) Expectation of reduction in FED on Cement rejuvenated investors interest in cement sector, and iii) Government focusing to revive cyclical sector to save jobs by providing benefits in terms of reduction or elimination of custom and additional custom duties on key inputs, and iv) Expectation of higher allocation of PSDP will increase demand for Cements and Steel.
As a result, the KSE-100 index closed at 34,611 points, up by 261 points or 0.8 percent WoW.
Contribution to the upside was led by i) Commercial Banks (204 points), ii) Cements (92 points), iii) Textile Composite (64 points), iv) Pharmaceuticals (56 points), and v) Fertilizer (55 points).
Scrip wise major gainers were UBL (63 points), LUCK (54 points), MEBL (43 points), BAFL (33 points), and FFC (31 points). Whereas, scrip wise major losers were HUBC (67 points), OGDC (61 points) PPL (49 points), EFUG (20 points) and MARI (13 points).
Foreigners offloaded stocks worth of USD 7.73 million compared to a net sell of USD 15.27 million last week. Major selling was witnessed in Commercial Banks (USD 3.27 million) and All other Sectors (USD 1.94 million).
On the local front, buying was reported by Individuals (USD 5.96 million) followed by Mutual Funds (USD 2.11 million). That said, average daily volumes and traded value for the outgoing week were up by 44 percent and 26 percent to 226 million shares and USD 50 million, respectively.
