KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange remained under selling pressure and closed in deep red with heavy losses as the investors opted to offload their holdings on available margins.
The benchmark KSE-100 plunged by 4,339.69 points on week-on-week basis and closed at 113,247.29 points.
Trading activities however improved as average daily volumes on ready counter increased by 31.4 percent to 1,045.16 million shares during this week as compared to previous week’s average of 795.59 million shares while average daily traded value on the ready counter increased by 1.6 percent to Rs 43.55 billion during this week against previous week’s Rs 42.88 billion.
BRIndex100 decreased by 627.81 points during this week to close at 11,796.75 points with average daily turnover of 393.705 million shares.
BRIndex30 declined by 1,395.21 points on week-on-week basis to close at 36,097.74 points with average daily trading volumes of 530.024 million shares.
The foreign investors also remained on the selling side and withdrew $5.699 million from the local equity market during this week. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 403 billion during this week to stand at Rs 14.230 trillion.
An analyst at AKD Securities said that the market faced volatility throughout the week, with the benchmark KSE-100 index posting a weekly loss of 4,339points or 3.7 percent WoW, closing at 113,247points. The volatility was led by profit taking and portfolio adjustments at year-start.
Major contributing sectors to the decline in the index were commercial banks, oil & gas marketing companies, technology & communication, causing the index to lose 970, 533, 453points, respectively.
However, T-bill yields in the recent auction marginally declined, falling to 11.8 percent for the 3-12 months paper, implying further potential rate cut in the upcoming MPC meeting, scheduled on Jan 27th. Furthermore, statement from the Prime Minister hinting at more room for reduction in policy rate, brings investors optimism.
Sector-wise, inv.bank/ inv.cos/ securities cos., sugar & allied products and Real Estate were amongst the top performers, up 31.7 percent/9.3 percent/1.9 percent WoW respectively. On the other hand, Jute, Leasing Companies, Refinery, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies and Paper & Board were amongst the worst performers with a decline of 22.1 percent/13.8 percent/13.2 percent/10.0 percent/9.6 percent WoW, respectively.
Flow wise, major net selling was recorded by banks with a net sell of $6.2million. On the other hand, Companies absorbed most of the selling with a net buy of $10.0million.
Company-wise, top performers during the week were JDWS (up 37.6 percent), MUREB (up 10.8 percent), PKGP (up 9.5 percent), SCBPL (up 5.4 percent) and LCI (up 3.0 percent), while top laggards were PSX (down 23.5 percent), PGLC (down 16.7 percent), NRL (down 15.9 percent), SNGP (down 14.1 percent) and PKGS (down 13.3 percent).
An analyst at JS Global Capital said that the KSE-100 experienced bearish momentum during the week closing at 113,247 points, down 4 percent WoW.
On the economic front, UAE rolled over its $2.0 billion loan deposit. Furthermore, ADB revised Pakistan’s growth target from 2.8 percent to 3.0 percent for FY25. To comply with IMF requirements on gas supply cuts to captive power plants, government proposed a phased levy on gas prices, starting with a 5.0 percent levy increasing to 10 percent in the second phase, expected to be implemented before IMF’s March quarter review.
Pakistan's remittance inflows continue to remain elevated in December 2024, clocking in at the $31 billion mark, reflecting a 29 percent YoY increase. Cumulatively, during 1HFY25, overseas Pakistanis sent home a record $17.8billion (up 33 percent YoY).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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