Karachi, July 6, 2019: This week trading commenced on a positive note as investors rejoiced the 3-day extension in Tax Amnesty Scheme as well as finance bill approval in the parliament. Furthermore, the first tranche of the USD 500 million received from Qatar along with loans arranged from syndicated Banks and World Bank aided foreign currency reserves. The tally by the end of first three trading days unveiled a positive run 995 points at the index.
However, investors resorted to profit taking post official agreement of the IMF Board for a USD 6 billion package for Pakistan coupled with a strike from cement dealers, automobile dealers and closure of textile units on budgetary measures. As a result, the benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 34,190pts, up by 288pts or 0.9 percent WoW.
Contribution to the upside was led by i) Fertilizer (+180pts) amid news of GIDC settlement of up to 50 percent, ii) Commercial Banks (+122pts) given indication of further rate hikes (tight monetary policy) by the IMF, iii) Chemicals (+18pts), iv) Insurance (+14pts), and v) Automobile Assemblers (+13pts).Scrip wise major gainers were FFC (+113pts), HBL (+86pts), NBP (+36pts), ENGRO (+35pts), and EFERT (+31pts).
Foreign buying continued this week clocking-in at USD 5.9 million compared to a net buy of USD 7.9 million last week. Major buying was witnessed in Power Generation & Distribution (USD 3.7 million) and Commercial Banks (USD 1.7 million). On the local front, selling was reported by Insurance Companies (USD 4.6 million) followed by Mutual Funds (USD 2.6 million). That said, average daily volumes for the outgoing week were down by 41 percent to 87 million shares likewise value traded decreased by 29 percent to USD 20 million.
Other major news: i) IMF okays $6 billion package to ‘foster strong growth’, ii) $500 million received from Qatar, iii) World Bank approves $722 million loan for Pakistan, iv) June inflation eases to 8.9 percent, v) Minister announces up to 168 percent rise in gas prices and vi) Forex reserves rise to $14.443 billion.
