Weekly Market Roundup

May 23, 2020 (MLN): The KSE-100 index lost around 171 points during the week and closed 33,836-mark i.e. nearly 0.50% percent lower than the closing of the previous week.

According to a research note by Arib Habib Limited, “chronic economic concerns given wildfire-like spread of COVID-19 cases, weak external account data as well as profit-taking near the key 34,000 index level, overshadowed the SBP’s monetary response to Corona induced decline in economic activity”.

The benchmark index was mainly led down by the performance of sectors such as Commercial Banks, Fertilizer, Cement, Textile and Oil & Gas Marketing Companies, as they looted the index by 162, 114, 95, 21 and 15 points, respectively.

E&P emerged as the best performing sector during the week, as it contributed about 119 points to the benchmark index, followed by sectors such as Food & Personal Care, Automobile and Chemical, which combinedly contributed 88 points to the index.

Company-wise, the scrips of OGDC, NESTLE, ICI, PPL and INDU were the most desirable ones as they contributed 90, 44, 40, 30 and 23 points, respectively. On the other hand, the shares of ENGRO, FFC, MCB, MEBL and UBL were the unwanted ones, as they took away 52, 43, 36, 30, and 29 points, respectively.

Figures released by NCCPL showed that foreign investors dumped USD 8.76 million worth of stocks during the week with foreign corporates doing the bulk of the selling.

On the local front, Individual Investors picked up USD 11.3 million worth of stocks, followed by USD 4.9 million worth of stocks purchased by Insurance Companies.

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