RECORDER REVIEW

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained under persistent pressure throughout the week as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of the upcoming federal budget amid growing concerns about proposed tax measures, which led to a continued downward trend in the market.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index plunged by 546.47 points, or 0.45 percent week-on-week (WoW), closing at 119,102.67 points down from 119,649.14 points in the previous week. Average daily trading volumes also saw a notable decrease, down by 25 percent WoW to 491.75million shares, compared to 559 million shares the week before.

The average daily traded value on the ready counter also decreased from Rs 38.60 billion to Rs 23.80 billion. The total market capitalization saw a slight down by Rs 4.51 billion, settling at Rs 14.385 trillion versus Rs 14.390 trillion a week earlier.

BRIndex100 also lost 88.12 points during the last week to close at 12,739.06 points compared to 12,827.18 points a week earlier. Average daily turnover at BRIndex100 403.2 million shares. BRIndex30 dipped by 326.6 points on a week-on-week basis to 37,505 points with the daily average share trading volumes of 220.8 million.

According to AHL Research, the KSE-100 the market remained under pressure throughout the week as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of the upcoming budget announcement.

On the economic front, the National Accounts Committee (NAC) released the latest GDP data, revealing a 2.68 percent year on year growth for current fiscal year, with the expected 5.47 percent year on year growth in last quarter. Meanwhile, profit rates across various National Savings Schemes (NSS) were reduced by up to 100 basis points, with the most notable cut seen in the Savings Account (SA), where the return was lowered from 10.5 percent to 9.5 percent.

Additionally, Power generation in Apr 2025 surged by 22 percent on yearly basis, which is the highest in 48 months, to 10,513 GWh. On macro side, State Bank’s reserves rose by $1.03 billion on week on week basis to $11.4 billion due to disbursement received from IMF.

The other major development includes new tariff policy for Captive Power Plant users that is seen as disaster for manufacturers. Further, government has decided to bring more luxury items under sales Tax in upcoming budget coupled with government’s decision to slap GST on Petroleum products while IMF also wants duty on fertilizer to be doubled.

Sector-wise negative contributions came from Cement (339pts), Oil & Gas Exploration (268pts), Fertilizer (222pts) Chemicals (62pts) and Automobile Assembler (55pts). Meanwhile, the sectors that contributed positively were Technology & Communication (62pts), Power Generation & Distribution (60pts), Refinery (45pts), and Textile Composite (31pts).

While Scrip-wise negative contributors were LUCK (257pts), FFC (237pts), MARI (211pts) MCB (131pts) and PPL (74.95pts). Whereas, scrip-wise positive contributions came from NBP (127pts), SYS (66pts), BAHL (65pts), PKGP (56pts), and ATRL (48pts).

Moreover, Foreigner selling was witnessed during this week clocked in at USD 0.29mn compared to a net sell of $ 9.13 million last week. Major selling was witnessed in Banks $ 1.09 million followed by All other sectors $ 0.73 million. On the local front, buying was reported by Individuals $ 13.08 million and Insurance Companies $ 8.10 million.

Other major news included the country witnessed net FDI inflow of $ 141 million during Apr 2025, the price of HSD has decreased by Rs 2.00 per litre, technology exports went up by 2 percent year on year during Apr’25 to $ 317 million, banking sector deposits increased by 13.7percent YoY in Apr’25, and the auto sales numbers declined to 10.6K units, down by 5 percent MoM in Apr’25.

Analysts at Topline sales desk stated that market remain largely lacklustre during the week as investors preferred to remain on sidelines before the upcoming budget announcement on June 10, while AHL said that Market participants are expected to closely monitor the forthcoming budget proposals ahead of the federal budget announcement, as certain scrips may come into the limelight.