October 10, 2021 (MLN): Equities at the local bourse once again remained under selling pressure during the week, as the benchmark lost 394 points to conclude the week at 44,477 levels, after oscillating between high and low of 45,105 and 44,285 points respectively.
During the week, investors remained wary on account of surging commodity prices, depreciating PKR, upcoming IMF talks, weak trade performance as imports continued to
surge which widened the trade deficit by over 70% YoY in Sep’21 and 100% in 1QFY22, and foreign selling on account of MSCI reclassification to Frontier Markets (FM).
However, a slight improvement in the PKR-USD parity given curbs on dollar outflows, and dip in international coal prices provided some breather to the index.
From the sector-specific lens, negative contributions came mainly from Cement (-268 pts), Fertilizer (-94 pts), Oil & Gas Marketing Companies (-47 pts), Power Generation and Distribution (-30 pts), and Engineering (-25 pts).
Scrip-wise major losers were LUCK (-139 pts), FFC (-45 pts), PPL (-39 pts), CHCC (-38 pts), and SNGP (-34 pts).
Meanwhile, the KSE All Share Market Cap decreased by a Rs22.13billion or 0.28% over the week, being recorded at Rs7.78trillion as compared to a Market Cap of Rs7.8tn recorded last week.
Flow-wise, Flow-wise, foreign investors remained net sellers during the week with an outflow of $3.7mn against an outflow of $21.85mn last week. The major selling was done by Foreign Corporates amounting to a net $6.25mn. sector-wise, major selling was witnessed in Commercial Banks ($9.85mn) and Fertilizer ($4.33mn).
On the local side, major buying was reported by Individuals ($7.13mn), Mutual Funds ($3.6mn), Other Organizations ($3.26mn), and Insurance Companies ($2.2mn). Other significant transactions included $16mn worth of stocks sold by Local Companies.
