KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s trip to the United States could potentially aid ongoing issues with the FATF which may lure further foreign investment in the country, analysts said.
Moreover, attractive valuations may also revive momentum at the index. In the immediate term, result season could dictate performance of the scrips.
The domestic equity bourse remained lackluster throughout the outgoing week. While PM Khan’s successful visit to the US could not generate a sustainable rally at the index, foreign policy appears to be in-check. Albeit, we pin commencement of the result season as key reason behind aforementioned index performance, given weaker. outcomes expected in cyclical sectors such as cement, steel, and automobiles. The market closed at 32,103 points, shedding 356 points / 1.10 percent WoW.
Sector-wise negative contributions were led by i) Power Generation & Distribution (71 points), ii) Food & Personal Care Products (66 points), iii) Oil & Gas Marketing Companies (49 points), iv) Cement (39 points), and v) Tobacco (27 points). Scrip-wise negative contributions came from HUBC (48 points), ENGRO (47 points), NESTLE (31 points), MARI (31 points) and PAKT (27 points).
Foreign buying was witnessed this week clocking-in at USD 8.4mn compared to a net buy of USD 6.4mn last week. Buying was witnessed in Commercial Banks (USD 5.6mn) and Cement (USD 2.3mn). On the domestic front, major selling was reported by Mutual Funds (USD 13.4mn) and Companies (USD 1.2mn). Average Volumes settled at 75mn shares (down by 29 percent WoW) while average value traded clocked-in at USD 21mn (down by 13 percent WoW).
Other major news: i) OGDC makes oil and gas discovery in Sindh, ii) ADB approves USD 50m additional contribution for CGIF, iii) Power tariff stays high on increase in capacity payments, iv) No new tax on bike and rickshaw according to FBR, and v) Banks likely to pay higher tax on income from papers.
