RECORDER REVIEW

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed some recovery during the outgoing week ended on November 10, 2017 mainly on the back of buying by mutual funds post relaxation of cash holding rules and value buying at cheap multiples, analysts said. BRIndex100 gained 34.15 on week-on-week basis to close at 4,437.09 points with average daily volumes of 102.041 million shares.

BRIndex30 increased by 120.83 points during this week and closed at 21,659.23 points with average daily turnover of 72.194 million shares.

Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 371.70 points on week-on-week basis and closed the week at 41,435.70 points. Average daily trading volumes slightly decreased by 3.0 percent to 113.84 million shares as compared to previous week’s average of 117.38 million shares. Average daily trading value declined by 12.4 percent to Rs 6.32 billion.

The foreign investors, however, remained net sellers of shares worth $1.78 million. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 17 billion to Rs 8.493 trillion.

An analyst at AKD Securities said that recouping lost ground despite a fluid political landscape and weak news flows during the week, the KSE-100 index climbed 0.91 percent on week-on-week basis closing at 41,436 points. Additionally excitement over strong automotive sales kept OEMs in the limelight (HCAR up 9.7 percent, INDU up 4.5 percent) whereas upward momentum in crude oil prices kept refiners under pressure (ATRL down 3.4 percent, NRL down 2.5 percent). On the geopolitical front, the developing political situation in Saudi Arabia raised blowback concerns on an already unstable region, spilling over to support global crude benchmarks (Brent higher 3.1 percent WoW).

An analyst at JS Global Capital said that market witnessed some recovery during the outgoing week with KSE-100 index inching up by 0.9 percent. Most of the pullback can be attributed to buying by mutual funds post relaxation of cash holding rules and value buying at cheap multiples. Mutual Funds during the week bought $17.2 million worth of equities, whereas Banks (net selling of $6.6 million) and Individuals (net selling of $3.2 million) continued to offload their positions. Cherry-picking in mid-low market cap sectors mostly prevailed with stocks such as SSGC (up 7.07 percent), SHFA (up 10.65 percent), HCAR (up 9.68 percent), DAWH (up 9.69 percent) and HASCOL (up 5.51 percent) etc. garnering investor attention. Heavyweights such as Banks (up 0.40 percent), Cements (up 0.70 percent), OMCs (up 1.77 percent) and Fertilizers (up 0.49 percent) gained value.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the local bourse depicted a positive trend during this week, recording a 0.9 percent increase. Investors’ lack of interest was observed on the commencement of the week (down by 33 points). However, a revival was witnessed mid-week when the domestic equity market surged 740 points on the back of an increase in oil prices due to political instability in KSA and significant buying by Mutual Funds due to withdrawal of liquidity requirements to maintain 5 percent cash. Sectors that contributed positively were Oil & Gas Exploration (up 106 points), Automobile Assemblers (up 80 points), Fertilizer (up 61 points), Pharmaceuticals (up 48 points) and Oil and Gas Marketing (up 39 points). Major contributors were DAWH, PPL, SEARL, MTL, and HCAR that aggregately contributed 225 points.