Pakistan Stock Exchange remained under pressure during the outgoing week ended on May 3, 2019 due to selling in various sectors. BRIndex100 lost 156.48 points on week-on-week basis to close at 3,756.95 points. Average daily volumes stood at 96.072 million shares. BRIndex30 decreased by 621.71 points to close at 19,499.13 points with average daily turnover of 68.852 million shares.
KSE-100 index declined by 1,007.68 points on week-on-week basis and closed at 36,122.95 points. Trading activities also remained low as average daily volumes on ready counter decreased by 14.2 percent to 105.09 million shares as compared to previous week''s average of 122.45 million shares. Average daily trading value declined by 12.9 percent to Rs 4.09 billion.
The foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth $4.8 million as compared to an inflow of $9.3 million in the previous week. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 157 billion to Rs 7.371 trillion.
An analyst at AKD Securities said continuing to price-in increased macro risks, event based factors and general slag in earnings growth witnessed during the outgoing results season, the KSE-100 index closed at 36,123 points, down 2.7 percent on week-on-week basis taking the market into the red for CY 2019 to date (down 4.9 percent in the current calendar year.
Stocks leading the index into the green included PSMC (up 21.4 percent), HMB (up 3.1 percent), HASCOL (up 16 percent) and PAEL (up 1.5 percent), whereas laggards were ASTL (down 8.1 percent), PSO (down 7.2 percent), FFBL (down 6.9 percent) and POL (down 6.5 percent).
An analyst at JS Global Capital said that the local bourse fell victim to bearish sentiments for the fifth week in succession as the KSE-100 shed another 1,008 points (down 2.7 percent). During Prime Minister Imran Khan''s visit to China, the premier signed six bilateral agreements with the host country, most prominent on the list being the CPFTA-II, the ML-1 and the Havelian Dry Port. Concerns over ongoing talks with the IMF regarding a potential bailout package kept investors on the back foot.
Continuing the selling spree from the previous week, mutual funds sold a cumulative $13 million worth of shares. Engineering, Oil and Gas Exploration and Refineries were major sectors to underperform the declining index, while Tobacco and Cable and Electrical Goods remained among the best performing sectors during the week.
FFL was the worst performing stock, losing 11 percent after Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Company Limited withdrew its intention of acquiring a 51 percent stake.