Coupled with lack of triggers, uncertainty on international front primarily kept Pakistan stocks bearish during the week that ended on January 22. The start of results announcement session, however, appears to have given a breather to bulls who recovered some ground after KTML and MLCF revealed better-than-expected quarterly financials to what analysts said contributing positively to the market.
Overall, the week under review saw the KSE-100 index shed 0.2 percent to close at 30,949. The daily trading volume averaged in green on 147.5 million shares, up 12 percent Week-on-Week (WoW). The traded value also ended 10 percent higher at Rs8 billion or $76.3 million.
The sectors which gained the most included travel and leisure, oil and gas and forestry which, respectively, appreciated by 11.3, 5.7 and 3.0 percent.
The losers were scrips from life insurance, household goods and commercial banks having lost value by 2.4, 1.8 and 1.5 percent respectively.
"Turmoil in regional markets and consecutive foreign selling continued to weigh on local bourse," viewed Topline analysts in a weekly research note.
To researchers at AHL, the market went on a trampoline ride with the WoW change failing to reflect volatility.
Foreign investors remained mostly jittery and offloaded portfolios worth $ 31.7 million on net basis. Most outflows were seen in stocks representing chemical, banking and cement sectors marking net selling of $12.3 million, $5.8 million and $4.2 million, respectively.
This negative trend, AHL analysts opined, was albeit that the market activity recovered a little with average daily traded volumes growing 9.9 percent to $ 151 million.
"News from the international front such as significant movements in oil prices, data from US and China in the wake of economic instability and easing of sanctions on Iran, both dampened and uplifted moods at the local bourse," said AHL analysts.
The week, they said, also marked the beginning of latest results announcement session, a development market observers believe may provide the much-needed trigger to the volatile bourse.
Going forward, Abdul Azeem of Spectrum Research said, the current oil rally was not expected to hold in the coming week as supply of oil from Iran and USA would again hurt the oil prices.
"However, upcoming better results expectations of cement, steel, power, autos and other manufacturing sectors would support the equity market," the analyst hoped.
Further, he said, any unexpected cut by the central bank in its policy rate would also support the market.
Major highlights of the week were contraction in Current Account deficit by 48.5 percent to $ 1.196 billion in 1HFY16, National Assembly passing a bill to, respectively, convert PIA and NBP into a public company and corporate, delay in the monetary policy as appointment of new members to the policy board remained unfinished, oil rebounding to $31 a barrel, and the appointment of HBL, BAFL, Arif Habib Ltd (AHL) and Elixir Securities as financial advisors for the State Life transaction.