Weekly Market Roundup

April 20, 2025 (MLN): This week, the capital market witnessed a series of positive developments on the economic front, which helped restore investor confidence.

Accordingly, the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 2,462.25 points, or 2.14%, to settle at 117,315.58 compared to last week’s close of 114,853.33.

Intraday swings were significant, with the index reaching a high of 117,888.13 (+572.55 points) and a low of 115,246.2 (-2,069.38 points).

Market cap

The KSE-100 market capitalization stood at Rs3.55 trillion, up 1.63% from the previous week’s Rs3.49tr. In USD terms, the market cap was recorded at $12.65 billion, compared to $12.45bn in the prior week.

This week, the index return in USD terms was 1.54%, compared to -3.31% the previous week.

On the economic front, the week began with positive news as remittances reached a record high of $4.05bn in March 2025, marking a notable 37% YoY increase.

As a result, the country has recorded a current account surplus of $1.2bn.

Following the surge in remittances, the central bank has revised its full-year remittance forecast for FY25 to $38bn, up from the earlier estimate of $36bn.

Additionally, Pakistan is expected to receive $4–5bn from multilateral lenders and other external sources before the close of the fiscal year, according to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad.

Also, Pakistan has recorded a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of $25.75m in March, compared to a FDI worth $294.17m in the Same Period Last Year (SPLY).

Further, Pak Rupee's Real Effective Exchange Rate Index (REER) decreased by 0.61% in March 2025 to a provisional value of 101.618 from the revised value of 102.246 in February 2025.

Fitch Ratings upgraded Pakistan's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'B-' from 'CCC+', with a Stable Outlook.

The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decreased by $127 million or 1.19% WoW to $10.57bn during the week ended on April 11, 2025.

SBP’s foreign exchange reserves- currently under pressure due to recent debt repayments, are projected to climb to $14bn by the end of June. This compares with a previous target of $13bn.

During the week, the Central Bank conducted an auction in which it sold Market Treasury Bills (MTBs) worth Rs964.63bn.

The positive economic cues helped stabilize investor sentiment, pushing the KSE-100 index’s fiscal year-to-date returns to 49.55%, while CYTD return stood at 1.9%.

Top Index Movers

During the week, Commercial Banks, Cement, and Automobile Assemblers contributed 1,736.13, 566.54, and 184.41 points, respectively, to the index. On the flip side, Fertilizer eroded -288.14 from the index.

Among individual stocks, UBL gained 1,536.74 points, while LUCK, and HUBC added 429.39 and 159.66 points, respectively.

Conversely, FFC and MARI removed -315.53 and -230.63 points, respectively.

FIPI/LIPI

This week, Foreign Investors remained net sellers, selling equities worth $4.01m.

Foreign Corporates led the selling spree worth $4.84m, while Overseas Pakistanis purchased securities worth $0.80m.

On the other hand, local Investors were net buyers this week, purchasing equities worth $4.01m.

Banks & DFIs and Other Organizations bought securities worth $68.97m and $10.59m, respectively, whereas Mutual Funds sold securities worth $62.43m.

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