Weekly Market Roundup

January 30, 2022 (MLN): Domestic equities remained flattish during the departed week as they settled at a 45,078 level with a gain of meagre 60 points WoW.

The market commenced on a negative note this week, given concerns over expectations of
a hike in policy rate. The market turned green after Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kept the policy rate unchanged.

However, momentum remained in check given the hefty surge in international oil prices, climbing up to a 7-Yr high which raised concerns over inflation. Moreover, rising COVID-19 cases and postponement of IMF’s review kept the market range bound, Arif Habib Limited in its market closing note said.

Meanwhile, reduction in cut-off yields of the government’s MTBs by 68 bps provided resistance against bears. Furthermore, the market welcomed the passing of SBP bill 2021 by Senate, since it is now most likely that disbursement of USD1bn will be approved by the Executive Board of IMF in the next scheduled meeting, it added.

From the sector-specific lens, cement, power generation and distribution companies, Food and commercial banks kept the index in green territory as they added 55, 45, 30, and 24 points to the index respectively.

Contrary to that, the technology, oil & gas exploration, automobile, and pharmaceutical sector during the week collectively snatched 124 points from the bourse

Scrip-wise, HUBC, BAFL, LUCK, FFC, and TRG were the best-performing stocks during the week as they added 1866 points to the index, whereas SYS, FFBL, HBL, PPL, and OGDC eroded 205 points from the index.

Meanwhile, the KSE All Share market cap decreased by Rs17.45 billion or 0.23% over the week, being recorded at Rs7.7trillion as compared to a market cap of Rs7.73tr recorded last week.

Flow wise, foreigners were the net sellers during the week, offloading stocks worth $4mn compared to a net sale of $2.09mn last week. Major selling was witnessed in Technology and Communication ($2.4mn) and Cement ($1.3mn).

On the local side, the majority of the buying was reported by companies and mutual funds amounting to $19.4mn and $4.7mn, respectively. However, organizations and individuals stood on the other side with net selling of $15mn and $4.4mn respectively.

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