Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained under severe pressure during the week, due to heavy selling on investor concerns over prevailing economic and political situation in the country, while power outages affect millions of people (Reuters). Least favorite sectors were Cement (down 8.7%), Leather and Tanneries (down 7.9%) and Electrical Goods (down 7.4%). [PSX remains under severe pressure- Business Recorder]
The benchmark KSE-100 index plunged by 1915.47 points on week-on-week basis and closed at 38,407.98 points.
Trading activities also remained low as average daily volumes on ready counter decreased by 21.9 percent to 143.16 million shares as compared to previous week’s average of 183.27 million shares while average daily traded value on ready counter declined by 19.8 percent to Rs 4.97 billion against previous week’s Rs 6.19 billion.
BRIndex100 fell by 192.29 points during this week to close at 3,790.42 points with average daily turnover of 122.238 million shares.
BRIndex30 declined by 703.02 points on week-on-week basis to close at 13,397.50 points with average daily trading volumes of 92.741 million shares.
Total market capitalization declined by Rs 290 billion to Rs 6.134 trillion.
“Continuation of political uncertainty in the country, following the Punjab and KP government dissolution, kept the market under pressure during the week”, an analyst at AKD Securities said.
Sector-wise, the top performing sectors were Modarabas (up 2.0 percent), Leasing Companies (up 0.8 percent) and Insurance (up 0.3 percent), while the least favorite sectors were Cement (down 8.7 percent), Leather and Tanneries (down 7.9 percent) and Cable and Electrical Goods (down 7.4 percent).
Stock-wise, top performers were EFUG (up 2.1 percent), DCR (up 0.3 percent), FFC (up 0.1 percent) and COLG (up 0.1 percent), while laggards were KTML (down 15.9 percent), CHCC (down 15.5 percent), KOHC (down 13.7 percent) and CEPB (down 12.8 percent).
Flow wise, Foreign Investors were the major buyers with net buy of $4.88million, followed by Banks/DFIs with net buy of $4.07million, On the other hand, Mutual Funds were major sellers during the week, with a net sell of $9.64million followed by Insurance Companies with a net sell of $4.96million.
An analyst at JS Global Capital said that the stock market continued on its downward track as political and economic unrest persisted and closed the week in negative territory at 38,408, down 4.8 percent on week-on-week basis.
In the first two trading sessions of the week, the Index lost a total of 1,980 points. Some recovery was witnessed following after newsflow suggested government’s willingness to go for necessary reforms to get the IMF program back on track. Increase in revenue collection, rationalization of gas and electricity tariffs and a flexible exchange rate regime were among the essential policy measures discussed by the cabinet during the week.
Tens of millions of people in Pakistan lost power after a second major grid outage in three months.
The blackout hit all the country’s biggest cities, including Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar, early this morning. Outages are frequent in Pakistan after decades of underinvestment, so many businesses and hospitals have in-house generators.
But homes often do not, and in Peshawar some citizens were unable to get drinking water as the electric pumps were down, Reuters reported.
The grid last collapsed completely in October, and it is constantly under strain. This month, shops and restaurants were ordered to shut early to save energy.
