KARACHI: Despite strong corporate results and better performance on the external front, the political and law and order issues continued driving investor sentiments who preferred to take profit in the outgoing week ahead of the general elections on Feb 8.
The share market opened the week on a negative note as the benchmark KSE 100-share index suffered the highest day-on-day loss of 1,040 points since Dec 26, 2023, ahead of the announcement of the monetary policy statement in the evening.
On Tuesday it extended the overnight gloomy trend and dropped by 931 points falling below the 62,000 level after PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan and his foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi were handed down a 10-year jail term in a cipher case. In the last three sessions, the index resumed its recovery drive on the back of positive economic numbers.
Arif Habib Ltd said the stock market remained depressed due to political noise coupled with uncertainty related to circular debt resolution.
Additionally, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) kept the benchmark policy rate unchanged at 22 per cent in the monetary policy committee meeting held on Jan 29. Furthermore, the headline inflation slightly eased to 28.3pc in January from 29.7pc in December.
In addition to this, the trade deficit for January contracted by 25pc year on year to $1.9bn. Meanwhile, the SBP’s reserves dropped by $54m, reaching $8.2bn. During the week rupee closed at 279.41 against the greenback strengthing by 0.07pc week-on-week.
Oil sales fell 13pc in July-January FY24, petrol price was raised by Rs13.55 per litre and development funds were cut by Rs114bn.
Hence, the market closed at 63,003 points after declining 810 points or 1.3pc week-on-week.
Sector-wise negative contributions came from fertiliser (181 points), oil & gas marketing companies (130 points), chemical (121 points), technology and communication (86 points) and power generation & distribution (66 points).
Meanwhile, the sectors which mainly contributed positively were automobile assembler (88 points), cable & electrical goods (7 points), insurance (7 points), and pharmaceuticals (3 points). Scrip-wise negative contributors were Colgate-Palmolive (Pakistan) Ltd (105 points), Mari Petroleum Ltd (94 points), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (80 points), Engro Fertilisers Ltd (77 points) and PSO (64 points). Meanwhile, scrip-wise positive contributions came from Oil and Gas Development Company (122 points), Millat Tractors Ltd (80 points), MCB Bank Ltd (78 points), Bank Alfalah Ltd (22 points) and Askari Bank Ltd (8 points).
Foreign selling continued during the outgoing week, clocking in at $9.7m compared to a net sell of $22.7m last week. Major selling was witnessed in commercial banks ($2.7m) and cement ($2.2m). On the local front, buying was reported by insurance companies ($7m) followed by broker proprietary trading ($1.5m). Average volume dipped by 24.7pc to 313m shares while the average value traded plunged 43.2pc to $41m week-on-week.
According to AKD Securities Ltd, the trading next week will be overshadowed by general elections and market participation is expected to remain subdued.
Following the successful completion of the elections, the market is anticipated to gain momentum. Furthermore, the circular debt settlement and industrial tariff rationalisation plans, if they pass through the International Monetary Fund are likely to boost investors’ confidence.
Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2024
Stocks close topsy-turvy week in red
12
0
04.02.2024
KARACHI: Despite strong corporate results and better performance on the external front, the political and law and order issues continued driving investor sentiments who preferred to take profit in the outgoing week ahead of the general elections on Feb 8.
The share market opened the week on a negative note as the benchmark KSE 100-share index suffered the highest day-on-day loss of 1,040 points since Dec 26, 2023, ahead of the announcement of the monetary policy statement in the evening.
On Tuesday it extended the overnight gloomy trend and dropped by 931 points falling below the 62,000 level after PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan and his foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi were handed down a 10-year jail term in a cipher case. In the last three sessions, the index resumed its recovery drive on the back of positive economic numbers.
Arif Habib........
© Dawn Business
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Mort Laitner
Rami G Khouri
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
