Equities remain subdued

Pakistan Stock Exchange remained under pressure during the outgoing week ended October 18, 2019 due to selling in various sectors. BRIndex100 lost 75.93 points on week-on-week basis to close at 3,555.20 points. Average daily volumes stood at 128.946 million shares. BRIndex30 decreased by 523.33 points to close at 18,664.31 with average daily turnover of 89.926 million shares.

KSE-100 Index declined by 605.54 points on week-on-week basis and closed below 34,000 level at 33,870.15 points. Trading activities remained low as average daily volumes on ready counter decreased by 50.8 percent to 139.78 million shares as compared to previous week's average of 284.30 million shares. Average daily trading value declined by 46.8 percent to Rs 4.73 billion. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 132 billion to Rs 6.639 trillion.

An analyst at AKD Securities said paring gains made in the last week, the KSE-100 index went down 605 points to close at 33,870pts down 1.76 percent on week-on-week basis.

Dim volumes were on the back of uncertainty surrounding FATF plenary meeting while investors also remained cautious ahead of volatile result season where construction sector is expected to be a major drag.

Top performers during the week in the AKD Universe were HASCOL (up 27.5 percent), EFERT (up 3.87 percent), ENGRO (up 2.2 percent), ASTL (up 1.72 percent) and BAHL (up 0.63 percent) whereas dampeners were PSO (down 17.68 percent), PPL (down 16.43 percent), INDU (down 7.58 percent), PAEL (down 6.51 percent) and PIOC (down 6.28 percent).

An analyst at JS Global Capital said that activity on the bourse remained subdued as average daily traded volumes declined by 51 percent. The awaited decision on the Financial Action Task Force may have kept investors on the side-line. With regards to this decision, news sources claim that Pakistan has been kept in the grey list for an additional 4 months to work on its shortcomings.