KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed bearish trend during the outgoing week ended on April 22, 2022 due to devaluation of PKR against US dollar, concerns over spike in T-Bill yields and uncertainty on political front in the country.

The benchmark KSE-100 index plunged by 1,048.52 points on week-on-week basis and closed below 46,000 psychological-level at 45,553.02 points. Trading activities also remained thin as average daily volumes on ready counter declined by 52.9 percent to 224.64 million shares as compared to previous week’s average of 477.32 million shares while average daily traded value on ready counter decreased by 38.0 percent during this week to Rs 7.48 billion.

BRIndex100 lost 22 points during this week to close at 4,622.75 points with average daily turnover of 202.639 million shares.

BRIndex30 decreased by 607.51 points on week-on-week basis to close at 17,299.24 points with average daily trading volumes of 136.218 million shares.

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The foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $969,343 during this week. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 149 billion during this week to Rs 7.608 trillion.

“After the surge which the market experienced last week based on positive sentiment about the new government formed by the coalition parties, we have now seen a downward correction,” an analyst at AKD Securities said.

The PK Rupee has depreciated by 2.86 percent on week-on-week basis, due to the growing Current Account deficit. Due to uncertainty regarding new economic policies, the market exhibited thin volumes with average daily turnover being 225 million shares, amounting to a decline of 53 percent on WoW.

IMF has laid out certain conditions in the ongoing discussions, with the key conditions being the withdrawal of fuel subsidy, the abolishment of the tax amnesty scheme along with additional tax measures, and an increase in the power tariff. Miftah Ismail, Minister of Finance has left for US to hold talks with IMF for the ongoing review.

Sector wise, the biggest gainers were sugar & allied and oil & gas exploration, up 2.1 percent and 2.0 percent on WoW respectively. Tobacco and leather industries declined the most with both down 6.1 percent on WoW, followed by paper and leasing companies down 5.6/5.3 percent.

Stock wise, top performers were LOTCHEM (up 18.7 percent), APL (up 7.7 percent), OGDC (up 4.3 percent), PPL (up 3.6 percent) and EPCL (up 2.2 percent), while laggards were CHCC (down 10.0 percent), SRVI (down 9 percent), FCCL (down 8.6 percent), UNITY (down 8.4 percent) and MUGHAL (down 8.2 percent).

Flow wise, mutual funds remained the net sellers offloading $6.0 million, followed by Banks & DFIs ($1.2 million) and Insurance companies ($0.3 million). Foreign investors have continued to sell their positions, with FIPI being a net sell of $1.0 million. Individuals and companies remained on the buying side, with a net buy of $7.0 million and $0.9 million respectively.

An analyst at JS Global Capital said that after peaking last week at 46,602 level post clarity on the political front, KSE 100 during the week reversed gains owing to concerns over the economic scenario of the country.

Most sectors posted a decline on a week-on-week basis led by cements, power, pharma and banking sectors.

Foreigners turned net sellers this week with total net selling clocking in at $1.0 million. Selling was broadly witnessed in Banks ($1.7 million) while the Tech Sector witnessed buying of $0.6 million during the week.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022

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