Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed mixed trend during the outgoing week ended on April 19, 2019. BRIndex100 gained 10.64 points on week-on-week basis to close at 3,931.81 points. Average daily volumes stood at 146.194 million shares. BRIndex30 inched up by 14.63 points to close at 20,023.35 points with average daily turnover of 114.445 million shares.
KSE-100 index lost 45.40 points on week-on-week and closed at 37,292.47 points. Trading activities slightly improved as average daily volumes on ready counter increased by 18.4 percent to 175.69 million shares as compared to previous week's average of 148.36 million shares. Average daily trading value increased by 15.7 percent to Rs 5.52 billion.
Total market capitalization declined by Rs 72 billion to Rs 7.569 trillion. An analyst at AKD Securities said that market saw a rebound on last trading day (up 1.3 percent), due to renewed optimism on economic front driven by cabinet reshuffle, improved overall picture for the week (KSE-100 index closed flat at 37,292 points, down 0.12 percent on week-on-week basis.).
Positive news flow of expected signing of agreement with IMF in late April/early May with policy level agreement between authorities and IMF failed to reinvigorate interest in the market, as delays in Amnesty scheme and consultations on implementing Treasury Saving Account (TSA) to consolidate government deposits in Central bank, overshadowed the positives. However, clarification from SBP that no TSA policy would be implemented without taking the banking sector onboard, improved investor sentiment with Banks gaining 1.2 percent on the last trading session. Amongst the major performers, Cable and Electrical goods segment was up 2.0 percent followed by Auto assemblers (up 1.7 percent as launch of new models/uplifts were cherished by investors). Within major sectors, Cement was down 1.5 percent as rumors surrounded further weakness in cement retail price as expansions come online amid weak demand.
Top performers in AKD universe were PSMC (up 15.5 percent), FFC (up 5.22 percent), PAEL (up 4.89 percent), UBL (up 4.15 percent) and HBL (up 2.38 percent), whereas laggards were CHCC (down 15.41 percent), PIOC (down 12.63 percent), HASCOL (down 8.08 percent), HMB (down 4.50 percent) and GWLC (down 4.06 percent).
An analyst at JS Global Capital said that after starting off on a positive note, the market witnessed a steep decline during midweek, before finally staging a recovery during the final trading session to close at 37,292 level, down marginally by 0.1 percent. There was a minor recovery in volumes, which have been depressed in recent months for various reasons, particularly on the economic front (policy uncertainty, delays in external funding, etc.). The midweek dip was mainly on account of the banking sector, following rumours of the transference of government holdings from commercial banks into a treasury single account (TSA) with the central bank. However, recent news flows in the final session of the week suggesting that the TSA mechanism would not be implemented without taking the banking industry on board led to a recovery in banking stocks.
Since BOP (down 7.3 percent) and NBP (down 1.1 percent) account for a significant chunk of government holdings, they were more sensitive to the news compared to other banks.
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