Pakistan Stock Exchange remained volatile during the outgoing week ended on January 17, 2020 due to investors' lack of interest. BRIndex100 lost 2.11 points on week-on-week basis to close at 4,539.97 points. Average daily volumes stood at 223.116 million shares.
BRIndex30 declined by 178.59 points during this week to close at 23,977.52 points with average daily turnover of 144.011 million shares. KSE-100 index decreased by 39.29 points on week-on-week basis and closed at 43,167.76 points. Trading activities remained low as average daily volumes on ready counter decreased by 19.0 percent to 245.67 million shares as compared to previous week's average of 303.23 million shares. Average daily trading value declined by 38.0 percent to Rs 7.51 billion.
Total market capitalization declined by Rs 17 billion to stand at Rs 8.085 trillion. An analyst at AKD Securities said that the KSE-100 remained range-bound during the week, closing at 43,168 points (flattish on week-on-week basis) after having crossed its 17 month high last week.
Despite Fitch forecasting a stable outlook for Pakistan, the cautionary tone kept the investors on a sideline. Additionally, sector wise developments including a massive spike in coal prices and dismal auto sales data kept cement and auto sectors under pressure. Preliminary data for inflation in January 2020 also contributed to the lackluster week, which suggested monthly inflation to touch 9 year high in the outgoing month. A significant jump in foreign investments in T-bills in a single trading session also failed to spark any enthusiasm on the last day of the week.
Within AKD Universe, top performers were PSMC (up 6.6 percent), MEBL (up 4.4 percent), HMB (up 4.3 percent), BOP (up 4.3 percent) and CHCC (up 3.6 percent), while laggards were FFBL (down 3.8 percent), KEL (down 3.2 percent) and) HASCOL (down 3.2 percent).
An analyst at JS Global Capital said that the KSE-100 index closed the week flat at 43,167 level, posting a loss of 39 points over the week. Lack of triggers during the week meant that the lacklustre performance came alongside restrained investor participation as average daily traded volumes declined 19 percent on week-on-week basis. Furthermore, the political friction that was seen between the MQM and PTI may have kept investors on the sidelines.