Bullish sentiments prevail

Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed bullish trend during the outgoing week ended January 18, 2019 on the back of selective buying mainly by local investors. BRIndex100 gained 36.73 points on week-on-week basis to close at 4,164.14 points. Average daily volumes stood at 111.789 million shares. BRIndex30 increased by 143.47 points to close at 21,988.04 points with average daily turnover of 83.248 million shares.
KSE-100 index surged by 257.42 points on week-on-week basis and closed at 39,306.50 points. Trading activities, however, remained low as average daily volumes on ready counter decreased by 14.9 percent to 117.97 million shares as compared to previous week''s average of 138.67 million shares. Average daily trading value declined by 13.6 percent to Rs 5.52 billion.
Total market capitalization increased by Rs 49 billion to Rs 7.926 trillion.
An analyst at AKD Securities said a week of polar opposites, where bullish sentiment from approvals on FDI ventures, off-shore drilling, coupled with Finance Minister Asad Umar''s statements made to placate industrialists propelled the index higher, only to pair-back gains mid-week, due to lack of triggers and concerning macro data points, reflected in the KSE-100 index''s closing of 39,307points, up 0.7 percent on week-on-week basis.
Gainers at the bourse included FFBL (up 7.7 percent), PSMC (up 6.5 percent), NCL (up 6.1 percent) and EFOODS (up 5.0 percent) while laggard were CHCC (down 3.3 percent), POL (down 2.8 percent), PIOC (down 2.5 percent) and DGKC (down 2.1 percent).
An analyst at JS Global Capital said after two positive sessions, carrying on the momentum from the previous week, the market lost steam midway, ending slightly higher at 39,306 level, up by 0.7 percent. News flows regarding the upcoming reform package kept investors sideways during the week.
During the week, outperforming sectors included Fertilizer (up 2.1 percent), E&Ps (up 1.3 percent) and Automobile Assemblers (up 1.6 percent). Anticipation of new discoveries by Exxon Mobil in Indus Block resulted in PPL (up 3.6 percent) and OGDC (up 1.9 percent) closing the week in positive territory, given their stake in the joint venture.
Meanwhile, HCAR (up 22 percent) and PSMC (up 6.4 percent) of the auto sector were two of the best market performers during the week, despite lackluster volumetric growth (decline in case of HCAR) in monthly car sales, which was likely due to rumours of new measures to be taken in the upcoming reform package to restrict the import of used cars.
Pharmaceuticals (up 1.5 percent) were among the stand-out sectors, buoyed by news of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) allowing a price-increase (up to 15 percent) to the sector, where GLAXO (up 8.6 percent) and ABOT (up 5.3 percent) were the major winners in the sector.