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PSX Closing Bell: Painkiller
August 3, 2021 (MLN): Following on from the strong upward trend seen yesterday, the domestic equity market maintained this momentum on Tuesday, thanks to positive economic data.
Investors’ sentiments remained buoyant today on an account of the approval by the IMF Board of governors for the USD650billion SDR allocation to boost global liquidity after which Pakistan central bank’s reserves are likely to increase by USD2.8bn by end of August.
Moreover, according to the market closing note by Topline Securities, investors also cheered an improvement in July’s trade deficit by USD590mn MoM that sustained the bull momentum throughout the day.
The KSE-100 Index closed the trading session at 47,758.32, up by 305.07 points or 0.64 percent. It hit an intraday high of 47,807.41.
Of the 96 traded companies in the KSE100 Index, 70 closed up 24 closed down, while 2 remained unchanged. The total volume traded for the index was 143.34 million shares.
Sectors propping up the index were Cement with 63 points, Technology & Communication with 63 points, Commercial Banks with 55 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 42 points and Refinery with 26 points.
The most points added to the index was by TRG which contributed 51 points followed by HBL with 24 points, MEBL with 21 points, MLCF with 19 points and POL with 17 points.
Sector-wise, the index was let down by Tobacco with 8 points, Fertilizer with 5 points, Miscellaneous with 4 points, Chemical with 3 points and Power Generation & Distribution with 2 points.
The most points taken off the index was by ENGRO which stripped the index of 10 points followed by OGDC with 10 points, HMB with 9 points, PAKT with 8 points and HUBC with 8 points.
All Share Volume increased by 190.87 Million to 443.21 Million Shares. Market Cap increased by Rs.48.27 Billion.
Total companies traded were 482 compared to 486 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 335 closed up, 120 closed down while 27 remained unchanged.
Total trades increased by 55,007 to 155,960.
Value Traded increased by 6.94 Billion to Rs.16.20 Billion
Top Ten by Volume | |
|---|---|
Company | Volume |
Worldcall Telecom | 36,354,000 |
Telecard | 29,471,500 |
Byco Petroleum Pakistan | 29,391,500 |
TPL Corp | 22,176,500 |
Citi Pharma Ltd. | 16,016,000 |
Treet Corporation | 15,529,500 |
Ghani Global Glass | 13,403,000 |
Unity Foods | 11,572,700 |
Flying Cement Company | 11,072,500 |
Pace (Pakistan) | 8,944,500 |
Top Sector by Volume | |
|---|---|
Sector | Volume |
Technology & Communication | 117,674,149 |
Food & Personal Care Products | 42,467,980 |
Refinery | 38,590,221 |
Cement | 24,887,066 |
Miscellaneous | 24,518,400 |
Chemical | 21,310,470 |
Glass & Ceramics | 21,237,300 |
Oil & Gas Marketing Companies | 18,539,445 |
Pharmaceuticals | 17,011,889 |
Engineering | 15,800,552 |
Copyright Mettis Link News
PKR trades 22 paisa lower against USD
August 03, 2021 (MLN): Enduring the losing momentum, Pakistani rupee (PKR) slid by 22 paisa against US Dollar (USD) in today's interbank session as the currency closed the day's trade at PKR 163.89 per USD.
The local unit was closed at PKR 163.67 per USD in yesterday’s session.
The continuous depreciation in home currency is owing to the market dynamics despite SBP’s intervention to curb disorderly conditions. Moreover, the expansionary monetary and fiscal policies have stimulated the demand in the economy, as Ali Khizar, Economist said.
While explaining his point of view, he stated that lower car prices and subdued interest resulted in record sales of automobile during the month of July’21 which has further deteriorated the exchange rate.
Meanwhile, the flow of remittances has slowed down after Eid festivities which would create unrest while offsetting import bills, he added.
The rupee witnessed a mild activity in intraday trade as it was traded in a range of 1.00 rupees per USD showing an intraday high bid of 164.50 and an intraday Low offer of 163.60.
Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 164/164.70 per USD.
According to data gathered by Mettis Global, the local unit has depreciated by 3.87% or PKR 6.34 in the fiscal year-to-date against USD. Similarly, the rupee has weakened by 2.48% or PKR 4.05 in CY21 with the month-to-date (MTD) position showing a decline of 0.89%.
Meanwhile, the currency lost 9 paisa to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 227.98 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 227.89 per GBP.
Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 16 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 194.73 at the interbank today.
On another note, within the money market, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an Open Market Operation in which it injected Rs.155 billion for 3 days at 7.15 percent.
The overnight repo rate towards close of the session was 7.20/7.40 percent, whereas the 1 week rate was 7.10/7.15 percent.
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OGRA withdraws notice after PSO refutes costliest purchase of LNG cargo
August 3, 2021 (MLN): The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Tuesday has withdrawn a notification of August 2, 2021, that showed the country’s leading energy company Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has made the costliest purchase of liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo at $20.055.
Earlier today, PSO clarified that the company has not awarded any cargo at a given price. The bid received against the required delivery of August 29 & 30, 2021 was high, resulting in a price that was not acceptable to PSO and the tender was scrapped on July 27, 2021. PSO has retendered for the same delivery period on July 29, 2021.
Shortly afterward, OGRA withdrew the notification from a day earlier stating: "As per routine monthly practice, estimated prices of RLNG are computed based on available data at the time of computation.
“Since the Prices are for the month in advance, many pricing components are calculated for determination of Prices on a Provisional basis based on available data at that time, which is later actualized by OGRA based on actual costs incurred,” it added.
However, the authority said that PSO informed it had scraped the cargo with offered price of 27.87% of the Brent, RLNG price notified on 2nd August is no more valid and August RLNG price notification is being withdrawn.
Copyright Mettis Link News
Petroleum sales up by 17% YoY in July’21; PSO remains top player, expands market share
August 3, 2021 (MLN): The Oil and Marketing Companies (OMCs) continued to post notable growth as in the month of July’21, OMCs witnessed a surge of 17% YoY to clock in at 1.94 MTs, compared to 1.65 MTs in July’20.
This increment in the sales volume is mainly owing to the accelerated economic activities i.e, record surge in automobile sales, substantial growth in LSM which stimulated domestic and international demand, and notable uptick in tourism activities that fueled the demand of petroleum and lubricants during the review period.
Not to forget, the strict surveillance at borders to control the smuggling of dumped POL products has also supported to enlarge the volumes, a report by Arif Habib Limited noted.
To note, during the same month last year, the performance of energy industry of Pakistan remained mediocre owing to the crippling impact of strict lockdown amid Covid-19 pandemic.
Contrary to the previous month’s meagre growth, the Oil and Marketing Companies (OMCs) registered a modest uptick in total sales volume of the industry by 4% MoM compared to 1.86 MTs in June’21.
In the month of July alone, the sale of Furnace Oil (FO) reached to 0.37 MTs, depicting an upsurge of 17% MoM due to the supply shortage faced by LNG and increased demand from power sector.
According to a report by Topline Securities, dry docking and maintenance of ENGRO LNG terminal created shortage of LNG during the last days of June’21.
The YoY growth in sales of OMCs is driven by FO and MOGAS demand which recorded a growth of 57% and 14% YoY to 0.37 MTs and 0.81 MTs respectively. Likewise, the demand for High-Speed Diesel (HSD) has also moved up by 7% YoY to 0.72 MTs in July’21.
However, on the sequential basis, the demand for HSD was dented by 4%, compared to the sales volume of 0.75 MTs in June’21.
Company wise, Pakistan State Oil (PSO) led the charts by reporting the colossal growth of 25% YoY in July, 21. FO remained the dominant contributor to the total sales of the company by 130% to 0.26 MTs. MOGAS also contributed by witnessing an uptick of 18% YoY sales.
In addition, the sales volume of SHEL moved up by 17% YoY in July’21 to clocked in at 0.14 MTs.
On the contrary, the other listed companies of the industry underperformed during the review period. For instance, Attock Petroleum Limited (APL) observed sales growth of 4% YoY while, the sales of HASCOL Petroleum dropped by 46% YoY owing to the low sales volume of MOGAS and HSD.
Going forward, PSO successfully grasp the biggest market share in the month of July’21, managed to expand its market by 3.54% YoY to 52% YoY from 48.5% YoY in the corresponding period last year.
Moreover, HASCOL, APL and SHEL’s market share dropped by 2.8%, 1.7% and 0.1% YoY to 2.5%, 8.3% and 7.4%, respectively.
Copyright Mettis Link News
NutriCo Pakistan Ltd becomes a subsidiary of ICI Pakistan
August 3, 2021 (MLN): ICI Pakistan Limited (ICI) has successfully completed the acquisition of 55,013 ordinary shares (equivalent to 11% shareholding) of NutriCo Pakistan (Private) Limited.
Following the acquisition, the total shareholding of ICI Pakistan in NutriCo Pakistan (Private) Limited stands at 51%, making it a subsidiary of ICI Pakistan Limited, the notice issued to Exchange said.
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Over half of Chinese enterprises listed on Fortune 500 have operations in Pakistan
August 03, 2021: More than half of Chinese enterprises listed Fortune 500 have invested or conducted business cooperation in Pakistan, demonstrating Chinese companies' confidence in Pakistan's future economic development.
According to Annual Fortune Global 500 List released on August 2, of the 143 Chinese companies on the list, more than half have operations in Pakistan.
143 Chinese companies, including those from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and the island of Taiwan, dominated this year's Fortune Global 500 List, making China No.1 on the list for a second consecutive year.
In 2020, the number of Chinese companies stood at 133, the first time China's number surpassed the US.
According to incomplete statistics, among them, at least 75 Chinese enterprises from different sectors, including energy, infrastructure, automobile, telecommunication and household appliances, have operations in Pakistan or participated in China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, bringing money, advanced technology and managerial expertise to Pakistan, China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Tuesday.
China's State Grid ranked second on the list, right behind the US-based retail tycoon Walmart. Two other Chinese companies made the top 10, namely China National Petroleum and Sinopec Group. State Grid corporation of China is the executor of the ±660kV Matiari-Lahore high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission project.
The project was recently commented by Pakistani Energy Minister Hammad Azhar as a safe guard to the power system of the country.
34 Chinese automobile manufacturers were on this year's list. The revenue and profitability of China's state-owned companies such as SAIC motor, FAW Group, Dongfeng Group and GAC group showed an upward trend while the annual rankings of multinational car companies such as Volkswagen, Daimler, Ford and Honda fell one after another.
SAIC motor, ranking 60 on the list, recently declared to scale up its vehicle manufacture in Pakistan via its local joint venture. Its plant's renovation will be finished by the end of this month and locally produced vehicles will soon enter the Pakistani car market. China FAW Group, ranking 66 on the list, is the co-launcher of Pakistan's first locally assembled Chinese car, FWA-V2.
61 Chinese private enterprises hit the list as well. 3 internet-related companies, China's JD Group, Alibaba, Tencent stood at 59,63 and 132. All 3 of the internet giants have actively participated in the realization of Digital-Pakistan.
In 2018, Alibaba acquired Pakistan-based online retailer Daraz Group, which helped develop the country's e-commerce market.
In terms of mobile phone companies, the rankings of Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi have also improved. Huawei rose from 49th last year to 44th this year. Lenovo Group ranks 159, up 65 places from last year.
Xiaomi secured the largest increase in rankings by 84 places, and became "top 500 enterprises with the fastest growth in the global Internet and retail industry". Only 2 weeks ago, the company announced to set up its assembly unit in Pakistan for the next 3-4 months.
Huawei, ranking 44, has been working with Pakistan's Higher Education Commission (HEC) since 2015. The company aims to provide technical training regarding 5G, cloud computing, AI, smart home, IoT and cyber-security to talented Pakistani youngsters. So far, the company has helped 87 Pakistani students.
Overall, Chinese companies' revenue and profitability remained largely stable. With average sales revenue of US$66.1 billion and profit of US$3.5 billion, the companies are beating the global averages of US$63.4 billion and US$3.3 billion.
APP
OMO Result: SBP Injects Rs.155.00 Billion for 3 Days
August 03, 2021 (MLN): The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an Open Market Operation on Tuesday in which it injected Rs.155.00 Billion into the market for 3 Days.
| Amount* | Rate | Bids | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tenor | Type | Offered | Accepted | High - Low | Accepted | Offered | Accepted |
| 3D | Reverse Repo (Injection) | 269.000 | 155.000 | 7.15 - 7.10 | 7.15 | 4 | 1 |
| OMO Settlement: same day August 03, 2021 | |||||||
| *Amount in Billions | |||||||
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Oil prices slip, rebound runs out of steam on demand worries
August 3, 2021: Crude oil prices reversed course after an early bounce on Tuesday, as concerns over coronavirus curbs combined with slowing factory activity in key markets weighed on sentiment.
Brent crude oil futures shed 26 cents, or 0.4% to $72.63 a barrel, as of 0645 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 16 cents, or 0.2%, at $71.10 a barrel.
Both markets dropped more than 3% on Monday.
ANZ analysts in a note highlighted resurgent economic risks to major oil consumer China from the coronavirus pandemic. "Cases of the highly contagious Delta variant have emerged in 14 of 32 provinces. This could see further mobility restrictions introduced," ANZ analysts wrote.
They also flagged slowing manufacturing activity as a key concern, to both China and the United States.
"China's economic activity continued to ease in July, with the official Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index falling to 50.4 from 50.9 in June," ANZ said.
"Manufacturing activity also slowed in the U.S., with the ISM index falling to 59.5" - the lowest reading since January - from 60.6 in June.
Meanwhile, Iran will respond promptly to any threat against its security, the foreign ministry said on Monday, after the United States, Israel and Britain blamed Tehran for an attack on an Israeli-managed tanker off the coast of Oman.
Elsewhere, U.S. crude and product inventories likely declined last week with both distillates and gasoline stockpiles predicted to have fallen for a third straight week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.
Reuters
Balochistan Glass Ltd decides to refurbish its first furnace
August 3, 2021 (MLN): Balochistan Glass Limited (BGL), in an announcement to Pakistan Stock Exchange, said that the company is successfully managing the commercial production of tableware glass from its newly refurbished second Furnace at Unit-III (factory situated in Lahore) which has the capacity to produce 65 metric tons glass per day.
As per the notice, the management has decided to refurbish/ repair its first furnace (having the capacity to produce 30 metric tons glass per day) which has come to its maximum life. It may come into production after the completion of its necessary repair subject to management strategic decision.
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PSO has not made costliest purchase of LNG cargo: company clarifies
August 3, 2021 (MLN): Pakistan State Oil (PSO), the country’s leading energy company, has strongly refuted the media news published today pertaining to the costliest purchase of LNG cargo and non-disclosure of procurement rates.
Taking to its official Twitter account, the company clarified that PSO has not awarded any cargo at $20.055. The bid received against the required delivery of August 29 & 30, 2021 was high, resulting in a price that was not acceptable to PSO and the tender was scrapped on July 27, 2021. PSO has retendered for the same delivery period on July 29, 2021.
The company further stated that being a responsible corporate entity, PSO always maintains absolute transparency in all its business dealings and practices. All bid results are published on P30's website as per Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules.
Furthermore, PSO has entered into a new long-term supply contract with Qatar Petroleum (QP), supplies against which will start in January 2022 and this will further reduce the basket price of LNG being imported into the country.
Considering the higher demand in the upcoming winter season, PSO has exercised the option in the new QP contract for bringing 4 additional cargoes in November and December at the new contractual prices, which are expected to be much lower than the market price during winter.
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