KARACHI: After eight uninterrupted weeks of positive closing, the Pakistan Stock Exchange finally succumbed to the bears as it closed in negative zoned on week-on-week basis due to selling by both local and foreign investors, analysts said.
BRIndex100 lost 79.69 points on week-on-week basis to close at 4,131.24 points. Average daily trading volumes stood at 377.980 million shares.
BRIndex30 declined by 623.69 points to close at 21,232.21 points with average daily turnover of 238.281 million shares.
KSE-100 Index plunged by 669.15 points or 1.7 percent on week-on-week basis and closed below 40,000 psychological level at 39,621.59 points. Trading activities also remained thin as average daily volumes on ready counter decreased by 24.1 percent to 440.75 million shares as compared to previous week's average of 580.98 million shares. Average daily trading value declined by 14.7 percent to Rs 17.96 billion.
The foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $3.998 million during this week. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 73 billion to stand at Rs 7.361 trillion.
An analyst at AKD Securities said that the poor earning reads in the backdrop of stretched valuations aided bears to stage a comeback, putting an end to 8-week winning streak.
The market participants largely ignored positive news on the macro front (record-high monthly remittances, Fitch affirming long term rating at 'B-', with a stable outlook), with KSE-100 index losing 669 points (down 1.7 percent) to close at 39,621.59 points.
Commercial banks lost 1.3 percent on weaker than expected earning reads (i.e. MCB and ABL). E&Ps went down 0.7 percent on government approval of the divestment plan (i.e. OGDC and PPL).
Power companies shed 5.6 percent on potential downward revision in returns following signing of MoU between the government and IPPs.
Performance-wise, top gainers amongst the KSE-100 constituents were SSGC (up 12.4 percent), SNGP (up 11.6 percent), FCEPL (up 11.0 percent), EPCL (up 5.2 percent), AGP (up 4.6 percent), while HUBC (down 10.2 percent), FFBL (down 9.0 percent), EFERT (down 6.3 percent), HASCOL (down 5.9 percent) and FML (down 5.9 percent) were the major laggards.
An analyst at JS Global Capital said after eight uninterrupted weeks of positive closing, the KSE-100 Index finally succumbed to the bears as it closed down 669 point at 39,621 levels. This correction was due given the local bourse rallied by 46 percent from its low in 5 months.
The KSE-100 index performance was led by 5.6 percent decline in Power Generation and Distribution post announcement of potential revision in existing power purchase agreements for most Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
In addition, selling spree in the Fertilizer sector (down 2.6 percent) continued this week after GDIC judgment announced by the Supreme Court last week. On the other hand, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies (OMCs) sector closed 2.0 percent higher on anticipation of potential receipts to settle outstanding dues pertaining to the circular debt (as a part of the agreements with IPPs).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020