Lack of clarity hounds PSX

Pakistan Stock Exchange remained under pressure during the outgoing week ended on December 15, 2017 due to investors'' concerns over political situation in the country and depreciating local currency. BRIndex100 lost 47.72 points on week-on-week basis to close at 4,087.51 points with average daily trading volumes of 112.610 million shares.
BRIndex30 decreased by 272.39 points to close at 20,259.72 points. Average daily volumes stood at 85.277 million shares. Pakistan''s benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 434.10 points on week-on-week basis and closed at 38,645.90 points. Trading activities remained thin as average daily volumes on ready counter decreased by 4.4 percent to 135.07 million shares as compared to previous week''s average of 141.27 million shares. Average daily trading value however increased by 17.6 percent to Rs 6.64 billion.
The foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $8.87 million as compared to net inflow of $1.04 million recorded in previous week. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 78 billion to Rs 8.242 trillion.
An analyst at AKD Securities said amidst the inevitable rupee devaluation against the US dollar and continued political uncertainty arising from judicial developments, the KSE-100 index weakened 1.11 percent closing at 38,646 points. Market sentiment cratered under a ''controlled'' devaluation exercise by the SBP which saw the Pak Rupee lose 4.6 percent on week-on-week basis against the Greenback, leading participants to raise concerns over the knock-on effects on the import bill, inflation and consumer confidence. Gainers (of AKD Universe) during the week were EFERT (up 8.39 percent), KAPCO (up 5.72 percent), ENGRO (up 3.26 percent), PPL (up 2.60 percent) and OGDC (up 1.85 percent) while the laggards were HASCOL (down 12.05 percent), LUCK (down 7.78 percent), PIOC (down 7.73 percent), FCCL (down 6.67 percent) and APL (down 6.54 percent).
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the index plummeted for the fifth consecutive week with benchmark KSE-100 index posting 1.1 percent decline to close at 38,646 points level. However, a late recovery was seen on Friday after the Supreme Court rejected NAB''s appeal for the reopening of Hudaibya case. While political concerns continued to weigh down on the index, lack of clarity on the macroeconomic front also continued to dent investor confidence. A major development on the macroeconomic front was seen during the week as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) let the Rupee fall by 6 percent against the Greenback, reportedly after partially agreeing to IMF''s demands of over 15 percent demands. Although it addressed concerns to some extent, the depreciation failed to excite market participants as it failed to meet expectations of perceived currency value. IMF''s positive comments on PKR devaluation and decoupling of economy and politics also failed to incite interest in the market. As a result of jumbled up political and macroeconomic concerns, foreign and local individual investors continued their selling spree. Across the board selling was observed with heavyweights such as Cements (down 6.0 percent), OMCs (down 1.1 percent), Banks (down 0.5 percent) and Autos (down 3 percent) extending losses. Some gains were posted by E&Ps (up 1.4 percent) but performance remained insufficient to counter across the board free-fall.