KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange remained under pressure during the outgoing week ended on April 30, as the investors opted to sell their holdings due to their concerns over spreading Corona virus cases and lockdown in different parts of the country.
BRIndex100 lost 68.99 points on week-on-week basis to close at 4,729.90 points. Average daily trading volumes stood at 304.223 million shares.
BRIndex30 decreased by 742.86 points to close at 24,261.09 points with average daily turnover of 172.688 million shares.
KSE-100 index declined by 444.41 points on week-on-week basis and closed at 44,262.35 points. Average daily trading volumes on ready counter stood at 331.21 million shares, down 0.5 percent as compared to previous week’s average of 332.74 million shares. Average daily trading value however increased by 14.8 percent to Rs 16.97 billion.
The foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $13.14 million followed by individuals (net sell of $6.28 million). The selling was absorbed by other organizations (net buy of $16.1 million) and mutual funds (net buy of $13.35 million). Total market capitalization declined by Rs 71 billion to Rs 7.718 trillion.
An analyst at AKD Securities said that after starting the week on a jubilant note on the back of strong economic data, market remained constantly under pressure, losing 1,420 points during last four sessions as political uncertainty mounted with a spat among ruling party’s members while increasing severity of COVID-19 further increased the jitteriness as various news reports suggested a possible lockdown to be imposed in highly affected areas.
Resultantly, KSE-100 closed the week at 44,262 points, down 0.99 percent on week-on-week basis.
Across the board profit taking was witnessed where engineering sector, despite posting impressive results, remained among the laggards, going down by 6.7 percent during the week.
Stock wise, top performers include GATI (up 12.7 percent), FML (up 10.8 percent), SCBPL (up 10.7 percent), COLG (up 8.1 percent) and ILP (up 6.4 percent) whereas laggards were PSMC (down 12.5 percent), PAKT (down 12.2 percent), NBP (down 9.1 percent), INIL (down 8.5 percent) and LOTCHEM (down 8.4 percent).
An analyst at JS Global Capital said that after a promising start to the week when the market closed nearly 1,000 points north on Monday, it all went downhill as the KSE-100 Index plunged by a cumulative 1,420 points in the remaining sessions to close at 44,262.
Positive news on the economic front emerged over the weekend as the current account deficit for March was reported at merely $47 million, as against initial fears of a higher amount. However, any positivity in the market as a result of this outcome quickly subsided as coronavirus cases continued to remain high in the week, coupled with the possible implementation of major lockdowns. Additionally, the week also coincided with the monthly ritualistic futures’ rollover phenomenon which exerted further pressure on the market.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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