KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained under pressure during the outgoing week ended on September 17, due to selling by both local and foreign investors.
BRInex100 lost 66.75 points on week-on-week basis to close at 4,981.17 points. Average daily trading volumes stood at 332.391 million shares.
BRIndex30 declined by 618.86 points to close at 24,491.50 points with average daily turnover of 200.187 million shares.
KSE-100 plunged by 562.21 points on week-on-week basis and closed below 47,000 level at 46,636.08 points. Trading activities remained low as average daily volumes on ready counter decreased by 6.6 percent to 400.18 million shares as compared to previous week's average of 428.67 million shares. Average daily traded value however slightly increased by 3.7 percent to Rs 15.08 billion.
The foreign investors remained net sellers of shares with an outflow of $10.9 million during this week followed by Companies ($6.4 million), Brokers ($5.6 million) and Mutual Funds ($2.2 million). Individuals remained net buyers with an inflow of $16.8 million followed by Banks/DFIs ($7.3 million) and Insurance companies ($0.9 million). Total market capitalization declined by Rs 120 billion to Rs 8.135 trillion.
"In contrast to last week, the outgoing week saw immediate reaction of investors in form of panic selling over Pakistan's reclassification to MSCI Frontier index", an analyst at AKD Securities said.
The average daily turnover declined by 6.7 percent to 400 million shares where as the KSE-100 index slipped 562 points, declining by 1.2 percent on week-on-week basis to close at 46,636 points over rising concerns of the upcoming IMF review and continues decline of PKR-$ parity where the local currency hit an all-time low of PkR170/ US$. Hence, the investors remained on their toes due to the rising production costs while recent government interventions to control the prices further irked inventors over the weakening corporate power to pass-on the costs to consumers. In addition to this, the market sentiment reflected the concerns over the upcoming monetary policy on Monday.
Top performers of the market included FABL (up 10.4 percent), AKBL (up 10.1 percent), SCBPL (up 9.6 percent), UBL (up 6.9 percent) and HMM (up 6.0 percent). Meanwhile laggards included ISL (down 12.0 percent), COLG (down 10.8 percent), INIL (down 9.1 percent), POL (down 8.7 percent) and PIOC (down 8.0 percent).
Volume leaders during the week were BYCO (172.52 million shares), WTL (146.41 million shares), TELE (145.91 million shares), TPL (91.26 million shares) and TRG (75.27 million shares).
An analyst at JS Global Capital said that the KSE-100 Index closed on a dull note this week at 46,636 level, losing 562 points over last Friday. Market remained cautious over a rising import bill and lack of clarity on the macro-economic front. International commodity prices continued to rise this week as well.
The US dollar rose to a record high of Rs 168.94 during the week, owing to US$ demand from Afghanistan and importers rushing to hedge their positions. SBP's apparent intervention however helped the rupee gain some support. The government has also increased petroleum prices by Rs 5/litre on Wednesday owing to fluctuations in the international market and significant exchange rate movement.
Refinery sector remained under pressure the whole week due to lack of clarity on incentives offered in the Oil Refinery Policy 2021. The CCoE approved the policy in principle but had reservations on some issues, a response has been sought from Petroleum Division on the same. The Monetary Policy Committee of the SBP will meet on Monday, where it is believed the policy rate may remain unchanged.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021