March 14, 2021 (MLN): The KSE-100 index plummeted 2,049 points during the departed week and closed 43,788 mark i.e. nearly 4.47% percent lower than the closing of the previous week. This was the lowest close level of the current year.
According to the report by BMA Capital, the cause of the rapid investor exit was mainly due to concerns about inflation, political uncertainty, PM’s approval on the abolishment of corporate income tax exemptions. The last day of the week, however, saw investors returning in hoards and lift the index from its week low of 42,780 points, albeit slightly. Trading volumes improved by 12.0% WoW to average at 432Mn shares, similarly, average trading value increased by 6.2% WoW to clock-in at USD.137 million.
The benchmark index was let down by the performance of the Technology and Communication sector, which snatched around 353 points during the week. While the cement sector took away 30 points from the index during the week as investors fear rate hike in the upcoming monetary policy which could potentially hurt the bottom line as the sector is highly leveraged, a report by Spectrum Securities said.
Company-wise, the top performers for the week were, AICL (+9.5%WoW), SFL (+3.7% WoW), MUREB (+3.3%WoW), PAKT (+1.7%WoW), and UBL (+0.7%WoW), whereas, laggards were, MTL (-19.6%WoW), ATRL (-19.0%WoW), GATI (-18.5%WoW), TRG (-17.7%WoW), and ANL (-17.4%WoW).
Flow-wise, foreign investors remained net buyers during the week (net buy of USD3.64mn) together with Individuals (net buy of USD5.94mn) and Banks (net buy of USD4.28mn) while major selling was witnessed from Mutual Funds (net sell of USD9.05mn) accompanied by Insurance (net sell of USD5.63mn) and Companies (net sell of USD1.28mn).
