The foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $8.57 million as compared to a net sell of $11.15 million last week. Major selling was witnessed in Oil and Gas Exploration Companies ($3.02 million) and Cement ($2.77 million). On the local front, buying was reported by Insurance Companies ($7.84 million) followed by other organizations ($3.81 million). Total market capitalization declined by Rs 33 billion to Rs 7.530 trillion.
"Amid uncertainty on the macro front (read IMF and FATF), KSE-100 remained lacklustre, closing the week at 40,249 points, flattish on week-on-week basis", an analyst at AKD Securities said. The government of Pakistan continued to push for deferral of additional tax measures and energy tariff hikes till the next fiscal year amid backlash on inflationary pressures (January'20 inflation hit multi-year high of 14.6 percent).
Top performers during the week included APL (up 5.53 percent), KAPCO (up 5.02 percent) and PAEL (up 4.90 percent), while PSO (down 3.44 percent), ENGRO (down 2.93 percent) and NCL (down 3.36 percent) remained the worst performers.
An analyst at JS Global Capital said that the market remained stagnant for the second week in a row as the KSE-100 index ended at 40,249, up by a marginal 0.01 percent. The outcome of the IMF and FATF reviews continued to dominate the headlines and market sentiment, leading to some nervousness for market participants. Corporate results continued to flow in at a faster pace this week, also making an impact on market activity.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that trading activity remained dull during the week and index movement was mixed attributable to concerns over a meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), convened to ascertain Pakistan's status (Grey or White List); it became evident by Thursday evening that Pakistan is likely to stay in the Grey List. On the other hand, investors remained cautious on the back of a strict stance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff to keep the budgeted revenue targets for FY20 unchanged while talks regarding the release of the third tranche remain ongoing.
Despite increase in international oil prices by 4.5 percent, Oil and Gas Exploration sector remained under pressure due to foreign selling. As a result, the KSE-100 index closed at 40,249 points, merely increased by 6 points. Contribution to the upside was led by Commercial Banks (up 133 points) due to financial result of HBL and UBL was better than expectation, Cements (up 20 points), Textile Composite (up 15 points), Leather and Tanneries (up 11 points) and Automobile Parts and Accessories (up 9 points).
Scrip wise major gainers were HBL (up 70 points), UBL (up 53 points), OGDC (up 37 points), MCB (up 34 points) and FFC (up 30 points). Whereas, scrip wise major losers were ENGRO (down 65 points), PAKT (down 54 points) and PSO (down 48 points).