Index in for a tumultuous week as politics takes centre stage

After losing more than 1600 points in the outgoing week, the 100 Index is in for another tumultuous week as political uncertainty looms. The index during the outgoing week fell prey to domestic and foreign selling as more than $25 million worth of shares were offloaded by local mutual funds and foreign corporates in total.

Oil & Gas Exploration ($7 million), Power Generation & Distribution ($6 million) and Commercial Banks ($6 million) took the beating of domestic and foreign sellers. However, Textile and Tech & Communication sectors remained favourites as Individuals, Banks/DFIs and Insurance Companies took advantage of attractive valuations.

Investors during the week are expected to remain cautious as sentenced ex-Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif has announced he is returning to Pakistan to face the music on Friday, 13th June. Political analysts warn this could turn into an unmanageable situation for the care-taker government which has limited authority and powers.

On Friday last week, to the relief of the general public, after intervention of the Supreme Court of Pakistan the Government decide to decrease the prices of petroleum products by up to Rs. 6.37 per litre. According to a notification released by the Ministry of Finance, petrol price was reduced by Rs. 4.26 per litre and the new price will be Rs. 95.24 per litre, high-speed diesel by Rs. 6.37 to Rs. 112.94, kerosene by Rs. 3.74 to Rs. 83.96 while price of light diesel has been reduced by Rs. 5.54 per litre and its new rate is Rs. 75.37. Inflation during the month of June 2018 reached to 5.21 percent, highest since October, 2014 fueled primarily by the rising global crude prices.

Water crisis in the country continue to worsen as water level in Tarbela Dam hit dead level yesterday (Sunday). Water levels in Tarbela have never hit dead level during the month of June. The water levels have dropped due to low rainfall and lower than expected melted of ice. According to the latest reports by Meteorological Department, new system of rainfall is expected by Wednesday which will raise the water level in the dam. In the meantime, however, Punjab and Sindh are expected to receive cuts in water supply for more than three to four days.