Karachi, April 13, 2020: The stock market opened on a negative note this morning and made an intraday low of 1,105 points before closing at 31,033 levels, down 3.1 percent. Overall market remained bearish with slightly better volumes but limited participation.
On the economic front, the Planning Commission estimates that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic could force GDP growth to slow down by 0.8 to 1.3 percentage points to 2-2.5 percent this year.
Moreover, as per the World Bank, Pakistan may fall into a recession shrinking up to 2.2 percent due to the ongoing novel Coronavirus. ENGRO (-2.9 percent), HBL (-2.8 percent), HUBC (-7.5 percent), FFC (-1.6 percent), MCB (-1.6 percent), OGDC (-1.2 percent), PPL (-2.8 percent), UBL (-4.3 percent) and LUCK (-3.2 percent), all contributed to the negative index close. Traded value stood at $34 million, up 14 percent and volume stood at 153 million shares, up 21 percent.
Furthermore, major contribution to total market volume came from HASCOL (-2.0 percent), MLCF (-6.8 percent), PIOC (-5.3 percent), PAEL (1.0 percent), TRG (-2.2 percent) and KEL (-3.4 percent). Going forward, we expect market to remain negative and recommend investors to sell on strength.
