Weekly Market Roundup

December 15, 2024 (MLN): The local bourse’s rally slowed slightly this week as the benchmark KSE-100 Index climbed 5,247.85 points, up 4.81% to close at 114,301.80.

keeping the uptrend firmly intact, it reached an all-time intraday high of 115,172 on Friday.

Just last week, the index posted a historic surge, gaining 7,697 points, or 7.59%, marking its strongest performance since April 2020. This was the seventh straight week of gains.

In USD terms, the index posted a gain of 4.77% this week. Last week, the USD-based return stood at 7.61%, a percentage gain of this magnitude or higher last seen a year ago.

Positive economic triggers strengthened the confidence of the bulls and surged the KSE-100 index calendar year's returns to 83%, while for the fiscal year, they stand at 45.7%.

The optimism stems from expectations of a rate cut in the upcoming monetary policy, where the SBP is anticipated to reduce the policy rate for the fifth consecutive time, likely by 200 basis points, in the meeting scheduled for December 16, 2024. 

During the week, the central bank's reserves increase by $12.5 million or 0.10% WoW to $12.05 billion, the highest since March 2022.

Meanwhile, remittance inflows in November 2024 remained robust, nearing the $3bn mark with a 29% YoY growth. At this pace, the $35bn annual target projected by the finance minister earlier this week seems within reach.

Additionally, SBP conducted an auction on Wednesday in which it sold Market Treasury Bills (MTBs) worth Rs1.26 trillion, with yields dropping by up to 100 basis points across various tenors.

Top Index Movers

Sector-wise, top positive contributors were Oil & Gas Exploration Companies (+3174.69pts), Fertilizer (+1539.27pts), Oil & Gas Marketing Companies (+589.08pts), Cement (+432.13pts), and Technology & Communication (+402.71pts).

Contrary to that, Commercial Banks dragged the benchmark index down by (-2,292.36) points while Automobile Parts & Accessories, Cable & Electrical Goods and Synthetic & Rayon dented the index by (-18.45), (-15.61) and (-4.28) points, respectively.

The best-performing stocks during the week were MARI (+1920.59pts), FFC (+1192.96pts), OGDC (+592.09pts), PPL (+585.14pts), and PSO (+419.64pts).

Whereas, the worst-performing were UBL (-464.72pts), MEBL (-392.34pts), BAHL (-350.29pts), MCB (-329.31pts), and HBL (-231.87pts).

FIPI/LIPI

Foreign investors were net sellers once again during the week, offloading a significant $875,655 worth of equities.

Flow-wise, the leading sellers were foreign corporates, with a net sale of $546,862.

On the other hand, local investors remained net buyers worth $875,655. Among them, mutual funds emerged as the dominant buyers, with an investment of $40.92 million

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