Market Roundup:
The KSE-100 index gained around 3,512 points during the week and closed 31,621-mark i.e. nearly 12.49% percent higher than the closing of the previous week.
The spectacular performance by the stock markets over the week was a result of recovering in oil prices, the relief package announced by the Prime Minister for the construction industry as well as fall in CPI figures to 10.2%.
‘On the global front, Chinese manufacturing data showed a sharp recovery in March following two months of lockdown, gave a boost to global equities. Meanwhile, OPEC+ decided to hold a virtual meeting on Monday to cut oil production’, Spectrum Securities said in its report.
Commercial Banks once again made the headlines but for the right reasons, as it emerged as the largest gaining sector with nearly 765 points added to its kitty. This was followed by E&P Companies, Cement and Power Generation Sectors, which gained nearly 796, 535 and 388 points respectively. Within these sectors, HUBC, LUCK, UBL, MARI and HBL made gains of 290 pts, 227 pts, 185 pts, 145 pts and 143 pts respectively.
Figures released by NCCPL showed that foreign investors dumped USD 36.1 million worth of stocks during the week with foreign corporates doing the bulk of the selling.
On the local front, Individual investor picked up USD 13 million worth of stocks, followed by USD 10 million and USD 9 million of stocks purchased by Mutual Funds and Insurance companies respectively.
Forex Roundup:
PKR stabilized during the current week, losing 1.225 rupees or 0.74 percent against the dollar during the course of the week to close at 166.7666.
The rupee traded in a much narrower range hitting a weekly low of 167.05 (bid) and a high of 165.75 (ask), as the 10 day volatility decreased from 14.86 percent to 14.34 percent.
According to traders, there was not much active trading as banks simply squared their positions.
The outflow of foreign investment in government securities during the month of March was USD 1.77 billion.
Furthermore, SBP reserves have decreased by USD 1.57 billion during the month of March (figures as of March 27, 2020).
Fixed Income:
Secondary market yields continued to decline with 3m, 6m and 12m T-Bills coming down by a further 21, 32 and 46 basis points, while 3 and 5 year yields came down by 45 bps and 10 year yields decreased by 40 bps.
Since the start of 2020, yields have come down by 245, 256 and 284 bps for 3, 6 and 12 months while PIB yields have decreased by 226, 172 and 190 bps for 3, 5 and 10 year.
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