Weekly Market Roundup

March 16, 2025 (MLN): Against market expectations of an interest rate cut, the Monetary Policy Committee's decision to hold the rate at 12% surprised investors, triggering three consecutive sessions marked by red candles.

However, positive developments on the IMF front revitalized market confidence. During the last two trading sessions of the week, renewed optimism among buyers culminated in the formation of green candles, showing an enthusiastic return to buying activity.

As a result, the benchmark KSE-100 index gained 1,137.47 points, up by 1% to close at 115,536.16 compared to the previous week’s close of 114,398.69.

Intraday swings were significant, with the index reaching a high of 115,730.98 (+194.82 points) and a low of 111,717.17 (-1,925 points).

Market cap

The KSE-100 market capitalization stood at Rs3.51 trillion with no significant change from the previous week. In USD terms, the market cap was recorded at $12.54 billion, compared to $12.53bn in the prior week.

This week, the index return in USD terms remained positive 0.9%.

The Central Bank maintained the policy rate at 12% on the economic front. On the same day, Governor Jameel Ahmed revealed that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has successfully met the IMF's Net International Reserves (NIR) target for December 2024 by a wide margin and remains on track to achieve the June 2025 target.

Workers’ remittances reached $3.1bn in February 2025. This represents a 38.6% YoY increase compared to February 2024 and a 3.8% rise from the previous month.

During the week, the SBP sold Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) worth Rs15.82bn against the target of Rs350bn. 

The foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP decreased by $151.6m or 1.35% WoW to $11.1bn during the week ended on March 07, 2025

The sales of cars, including LCVs, vans, and jeeps, in Pakistan, increased by 24.5% in February 2025, clocking in at 12,084 units compared to 9,709 units recorded in the same month of last year.

The country’s overall nutrient offtake in February 2025 stood at 231 thousand tonnes, reflecting a 41.8% decrease compared to February 2024.

The positive economic cues helped stabilize investor sentiment, pushing the KSE-100 index’s fiscal year-to-date returns to 47.28%. However, on CYTD return stood at 0.35%.

Top Index Movers

During the week, Inv. Banks, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies and Oil & Gas Marketing Companies contributed 279.06, 234.36, and 197.43 points to the index.

On the flip side, Engineering, Glass & Ceramics, and Leather & Tanneries lost -45.79, -44.97, and -37.29 points, respectively.

Among individual stocks, MARI added 302.49 points to the index while ENGROH, PSO, and HBL contributed to the index by 290.38, 173.85, and 65.40, respectively.

Conversely, MTL, SRVI, and PPL eroded -52.45, -37.29, and -33.88 points, respectively.

FIPI/LIPI

This week, Foreign Investors remained net sellers, offloading the equities worth $2.61m.

Among them, Foreign Corporates led the selling activity worth $3.78m while Overseas Pakistanis bought securities worth $1.17m.

On the other hand, this week, local Investors were net buyers, purchasing equities worth $2.61m.

Banks/DFI bought securities worth $110.8m whereas Mutual Funds sold securities worth $111.27m.

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