Bears grip equities

Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed bearish trend during the outgoing week ended on September 28, 2018 due to selling in various sectors. BRIndex100 lost 54.36 points on week-on-week basis to close at 4,385.09 points with average daily volumes of 111.201 million shares. BRIndex30 decreased by 784.4 points during this week and closed at 21,486.40 points with average daily turnover of 72.165 million shares.
Pakistan's benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 321.54 points on week-on-week basis and closed at 40,998.59 points. Trading activities remained low as average daily volumes on ready counter decreased by 20.7 percent to 124.40 million shares as compared to previous average of 156.81 million shares. Average daily trading value declined by 17.8 percent to Rs 5.12 billion.
The foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $9.43 million during the week. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 38 billion to Rs 8.402 trillion. An analyst at AKD Securities said that lack of coherent policy direction to address the macro-economic woes continued to weigh on market performance, with KSE-100 index closing the week 0.6 percent lower at 40,999 points. Also, NEPRA's proposal to increase the electricity tariffs (which ECC later deferred until next week) dampened the market sentiment.
Performance leaders during the week were PIOC (up 3.2 percent), HBL (up 3.2 percent), POL (up 3.2 percent), PSMC (up 2.1 percent) and NBP (up 2.0 percent). On the flipside, laggards were ASTL (down 8.9 percent), INDU (down 6.3 percent), APL (down 5.7 percent), DGKC (down 4.4 percent) and MLCF (down 4.4 percent).
An analyst at JS Global Capital said that the week ended on a negative tone, with the KSE-100 closing down 0.8 percent at 40,998 level. Although there was hype created in the previous week regarding a major inflow from KSA, news this week negated rumours, where the announced grants are substantially smaller and in connection to CPEC, which blunted any positive vibes in market sentiment.
Among key sectors, Banks (up 1.1 percent) rallied on news of the upcoming MPS, while E&Ps (up 1.1 percent) stood out on the back of 2 percent increase in crude oil prices. Cements (down 2.7 percent) underperformed the index, despite news of a price increase this week, while the axe fell on Autos (down 6.6 percent) as the Senate Standing Committee chose to reject the government's proposal to lift the ban on non-filers of tax returns against purchase of new cars.