Equities end month long negativity after week closes 2.1% up

Pakistan Stock Exchange – KSE100

After a nerve wreaking week which saw the KSE – 100 fall below the 38000 points level, bulls took over the closing of the week.

The KSE – 100 is down 8,336 points -17.4% since the beginning of 2017 when it was trading at 47,807 points. It has also lost more than 13,400 points -25.4pc from its peak of 52,876 points in May, 2017. More than Rs1.33 trillion has been wiped off the PSX market capitalization since Jan 1.

The KSE-100 gained a total of 825 points during the week, with a close of 38645.90 on Friday last week and a close on 39470.89 points on Thursday.

NCCPL Data

By Investor

Banks/DFIs, Mutual Funds, NBFC and other organizations were net buyers throughout the week whereas Foreign Corporates, Overseas Pakistanis, Broker Proprietary, Individuals and Insurance Companies sold their positions by 25.3 million in the market.

By Sector

Cement, Food and Personal Care, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies, Power Generation, Commercial Banks, Textile Composite and Oil & Gas Exploration Cos. were the pick of investors. Meanwhile, Fertilizer and All Other Sectors were the net losers from the ongoing negative sentiment in the market.

Weekly Reserves

The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at US $ 20,383.4 million on 15 December 2017. The break-up of the foreign reserves position is as under:-

During the week ending 15 December 2017, SBP’s reserves decreased by US $ 334 million to US $ 14,332 million. The decrease in reserves is due to payments on account of external debt servicing and other official outflows.

Weekly SPI

According to figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, weekly SPI for the combined group increased by 0.16% compared to the previous week (Dec 14, 2017) and 3.46% compared to the corresponding period (Dec 22, 2016) last year.

Of the 53 items monitored, the average weekly price of 12 items registered an increase, 8 decreased while 33 remained unchanged.

Weekly Oil Prices – WTI & BRENT

Oil prices were flat amid light trading at the end of the week after strong gains on Thursday. The EIA reported some mixed figures – more strong oil production gains from the U.S., but also a sizable drawdown in crude inventories. The approaching holidays has the market subdued.        

WTI Month

BRENT Last month