July 31, 2022 (MLN): The outgoing week witnessed muted stock market performance as economic woes and political turmoil along with concerns regarding the Rupee created an uncertain environment.
However, the KSE-100 index posted marginal gains WoW primarily due to continued positive statements from the Finance Ministry and SBP on account of Pakistan’s external situation and rumours regarding default were largely pinned down, a note by BMA Capital said.
The week began with all eyes on court proceedings where the matter of CM Punjab was disputed. Subsequently, with the decision coming in favour of PTI, the market feared with increased political uncertainty as the PML-N-led government did not have a majority in any of the provincial assemblies which would make policy implementation a tough task though news flows regarding PTI agreeing to a charter for the economy provided much-needed calmness to the market.
The sentiment turned positive, however, after the finance minister in multiple addresses announced that the country has fulfilled all requirements of the IMF, and the dedicated tranche of $1.17bn will be released after the Executive Board’s meeting which is scheduled for late next month.
Consequently, the market closed at 40,150 points, gaining 73 points or up by 0.18% WoW. In USD terms, the index plummeted by a significant 4.4% this week as PKR depreciated by 4.6% during the week to close at PKR 239.4/USD.
Overall, out of the total 5 sessions, the bourse witnessed 3 sessions in favour of bulls while 2 sessions were in favour of bears. The KSE-100 index oscillated between high and low of 40,629 and 39,606 levels, respectively, before settling the week at 40,150 levels.
From the sector-specific lens, Technology, Banks, Oil & Gas Exploration companies, Chemical and Oil & Gas Marketing Companies kept the index in green territory as they added 176, 138, 58, 37, and 16 points to the index respectively.
Contrary to that, Fertilizer, Automobile, Cement, Power Generation & Distribution, and Automobile Parts & Accessories during the week collectively took away 391 points to the bourse.
Scrip-wise, TRG, LOTCHEM, POL BAFL, and HBL were the best-performing stocks during the week as they added 132, 51, 47, 46, and 30 points to the index respectively. Whereas EFERT, ENGRO, INDU, FFC, and THALL collectively snatched 289 points from the index.
Meanwhile, the KSE All Share market cap increased by Rs18 billion or 0.27% over the week, being recorded at Rs6.77trillion as compared to a market cap of Rs6.75tr recorded last week.
Flow-wise, foreigners emerged as net buyers during the week, purchasing stocks worth $0.57mn compared to a net buy of $1.64mn last week. Sector-wise, the major buying was observed in Technology ($3mn), and Textile ($0.64mn).
On the local side, the majority of the selling was reported by Individuals, Insurance Companies, Brokers, and Mutual Funds amounting to $490.5mn, $424.5mn, $275.3mn and $273.8mn, respectively. However, Banks and Companies stood on the other side with net buying of $772.7mn and $564mn respectively.
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