Bears rule the roost on PSX

Bears dominated during the outgoing week ended on January 31, 2020 and Pakistan Stock Exchange ended in deep red zone due to heavy selling in almost all sectors. BRIndex100 lost 128.4 points or week-on-week basis to close at 4,357.07 points. Average daily trading volumes stood at 168.847 million shares.

BRIndex30 declined by 746.59 points to close at 22,768.46 points with average daily turnover of 127.802 million shares. KSE-100 index plunged by 1,002.09 points on week-on-week basis and closed at 41,630.93 points. Average daily volumes on ready counter slightly increased by 0.8 percent and stood at 188.14 million shares as compared to previous week's average of 186.66 million shares. Average daily trading value decreased by 10.6 percent to Rs 7.09 billion.

Total market capitalization declined by Rs 108 billion or 1.4 percent to Rs 7.851 trillion. An analyst at AKD Securities said that weak earning reads and MPC's decision to hold interest rates have triggered risk-off sentiment, with the KSE-100 index losing 2.35 percent on week-on-week basis to close the week at 41,631 points.

Sector wise, upstream oil stocks (E&Ps: down 4.7 percent) took a beating on declining oil prices and the government announcement of partial stake sale in OGDC and PPL. Cement sector corrected 1.7 percent on pricing concerns following new capacity additions and industry's failure to reach a consensus on pricing.

Within AKD Universe, MCB (down 6.13 percent), NML (down 5.15 percent), UBL (down 5.01 percent), POL (down 4.99 percent), PPL (down 4.92 percent) and OGDC (down 4.0 percent) were major underperformers while HASCOL (up 12.31 percent), PSMC (up 2.75 percent), NCL (up 2.66 percent and INDU (up 2.65 percent) were major gainers.

An analyst at JS Global Capital said that the Pakistan equities closed the week at 41,630 levels, losing a further 2.4 percent as material triggers remained elusive. The country's political landscape appeared to be in limbo as friction within members of the ruling PTI piled on pressure from the opposition and provincial governments. The world beyond borders seemed no less in control as the coronavirus took its toll on global equity markets and international oil prices.