PSX remains under pressure

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained under pressure during the outgoing week ended August 25, 2017 due to prevailing political uncertainty in the country. BRIndex100 lost 24.7 points on week-on-week basis and closed at 4,667.99 points. During the week, the BRIndex100 hit a high level of 4,734.77 points and low level of 4,469.52 points. BRIndex100 average daily volume stood at 164.677 million shares.
BRIndex30 declined by 658.05 points on week-on-week basis to close at 22,708.86 points with average daily volumes of 119.336 million shares. Pakistan benchmark KSE-100 index plunged by 436.63 on week-on-week basis points to close the week at 42,641.75 points. Trading activities on ready counter remained low as average daily volumes decreased by 2.1 percent to 179.72 million shares while average daily trading value declined by 1.4 percent to Rs 9.75 billion.
Total market capitalization decreased by Rs 119 billion to Rs 8.872 trillion. The foreign investors again demonstrated their uneasiness over expected devaluation of the exchange rate with further net selling of $9.7 million worth of equities during the week. Most of this selling was absorbed by local financial institutions such as Banks (net buying of $12.5 million) and Mutual Funds (net buying of $3.2 million), to scoop up value plays at dirt cheap multiples.
An analyst at AKD Securities said that the ongoing political instability further fuelled by announcement of tough US Pak-Afghan policy continued to cloud the investors' sentiment, leading to the benchmark KSE-100 index falling 1.01 percent on week-on-week basis, to close the week at 42,642 points. Scrips leading the bourse during the week were ASTL (up 7.07 percent), POL (up 5.42 percent), NML (up 4.51 percent), PPL (up 3.13 percent) and INDU (up 2.97 percent), while EFOODS (down 9.08 percent), DGKC (down 8.49 percent), PIOC (down 6.79 percent) and GWLC (down 6.52 percent) topped the major losers list.
An analyst at JS Global Capital said that the market continued to stay in the bearish zone with the benchmark KSE-100 index shedding another 437 points. The prevalent bearish spell continued to be led by unresolved matters on the political and economic front, with this week's announcement of the new Afghan policy by US President Donald Trump adding to market woes. Of the key sectors, Cements (down 7 percent because of reduction in cement prices), OMCs (down 3 percent), Pharmaceuticals (down 2 percent) and Autos (down 1.0 percent) bore the brunt of selling.