Business

PSX weekly review: Bulls dominate as KSE-100 index shoots past 42,000 mark

Published

3 years ago

Farwa

KSE-100 index gains 1,946 points.
Finishes four out of five sessions in green.
Interest in main board sectors kept market buoyant.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) recouped losses from the previous week with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 1,946 points or 4.9% to settle at 42,096.24. Trading remained volatile throughout the week with the index finishing four out of five sessions in the green.

PSX weekly review: Bulls dominate as KSE-100 index shoots past 42,000 mark

Interest in main board sectors kept the market buoyant as investor participation remained strong. The index maintained a healthy momentum on back of trade deficit and strengthening rupee against the US dollar. Additionally, sector-specific developments also spurred buying interest in select stocks, which further fuelled the rally.

The market commenced the week on a negative note as inflation for the month of July 2022 came in at 24.9%, — highest level in last 14 years.

Fortunately, tables turned and the sentiment turned positive after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that Pakistan had fulfilled the last remaining pre-requisite for the loan (incremental hike in petroleum development levy on MS and hi-speed diesel).

With this renewed hope, the Pakistani rupee strengthened against greenback, gaining Rs15.33, or 6%, week-on-week to close at Rs224.04 this week.

Furthermore, trade deficit significantly declined in July, down by 47% month-on-month. Moreover, reduction in international oil prices post OPEC+ meeting (WTI trading below $88 per barrel compared to $98.62 per barrel last week) further cemented the ground for bulls.

Other major developments during the week were: ministry agreed to increase oil marketing companies margin on MS (petrol), hi-speed diesel, SBP’s forex reserves fell $190 million to $8.4 billion, banks give Rs298 billion financing in PIB auction, refineries’ gross margin declined 83% in August, and oil sales in July 2022 clocked in at the lowest level since February 2021.

Meanwhile, foreign selling this week clocked in at $0.69 million against a net buy of $0.57 million recorded last week. Selling was witnessed in banks ($0.9 million), and fertiliser ($0.6 million).

On the domestic front, major buying was reported by brokers proprietary ($2.2 million), followed by mutual funds ($1.6 million).

During the week under review, average volumes clocked in at 263 million shares (up by 75% week-on-week), while average value traded settled at $34 million (up by 56% week-on-week).

Major gainers and losers of the week

Sector-wise positive contributions came from banks (+427 points), cement (+421 points), fertiliser (+112 points), chemical (+111 points), and oil marketing companies (+106 points).

On the flip side, negative contributions came from close-end mutual fund (-3 points), and real estate investment trust (-1 points).

Scrip-wise major gainers were Luck Cement (+155 points), UBL (+124 points), MCB (+87 points), PSO (+78 points), and Colgate-Palmolive (+73 points).

Meanwhile, major losers were Faysal Bank (-10 points), Mari Petroleum (-6 points), Interloop (-4 points), and Adamjee Insurance Company (-3 points).

Outlook for next week

A report from AHL predicted: “We expect the market to remain in the green zone given hopes on loan disbursement from IMF once approval is granted by the Executive Board.”

“Moreover, with the ongoing result season, certain sectors and scrips are expected to stay under the limelight given anticipation of robust results,” it said, advising investors to cherry-pick fundamentally strong blue-chip stocks.

“The KSE-100 is currently trading at a PER of 4.3x (2022) compared to the Asia-Pacific regional average of 12.5x while offering a dividend yield of 8.9% versus 2.8% offered by the region,” the brokerage house stated.

Business

SFD and Pakistan Sign Two Deals Totaling $1.61BLN

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

Two agreements totaling $1.61 billion have been inked by Pakistan and the Saudi Fund for Development to improve their bilateral economic cooperation.

Business

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign an MOU to strengthen their auditing industry collaboration.

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

A spokesperson for the office of the Auditor-General of Pakistan (AGP) announced on Monday that the two countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in public sector auditing through improved cooperation between audit institutions of both countries, as well as training programs and the exchange of trainers.

This comes as a group from Saudi Arabia’s General Court of Audit (GCA), headed by GCA President Dr. Hussam bin Abdulmohsen Alangari, arrived in Pakistan on Sunday for a four-day visit.

The agreement was signed during AGP Muhammad Ajmal Gondal’s meeting with the Saudi delegates, aiming to strengthen audit cooperation, enhance knowledge-sharing, and improve governance, transparency and accountability in government spending.

Public relations officer Muhammad Raza Irfan of the AGP’s office told Arab News that the deal will further advance bilateral collaboration between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in addition to enhancing professional ties between the two nations’ auditing institutions.

In a statement released from his office, AGP Gondal was cited as saying, “This collaboration marks a significant step toward fostering international cooperation in auditing.”

“The exchange of ideas and methodologies will undoubtedly strengthen our capacity to meet emerging challenges and set new benchmarks for public accountability.”

Discussions at Monday’s meeting focused on fostering closer ties between the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, sharing innovative audit methodologies, and planning collaborative initiatives for the future, according to the AGP office.

The two parties decided to increase their knowledge of theme, environmental, and impact audits as well as to exchange best practices in audit standards, performance audits, and citizen participation audits.

The statement added, “It also agreed to exchange trainers, address new auditing challenges, plan cooperative audits, including a performance audit on the oil and gas sector in 2025, and work together on training programs.”

Both sides reaffirmed their shared commitment to promoting transparency, accountability and excellence in public sector auditing.

Business

The government chooses to continue the PIA privatization process.

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) privatization process will be restarted by the federal government, and expressions of interest would be requested within the month. Officials stated that the Prime Minister’s Committee on Privatization will convene to make the final decision.

Usman Bajwa, the secretary of the Privatization Commission, gave a briefing on the updated procedure to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Privatization. Additionally, he disclosed that airlines other than PIA are now able to compete with regional carriers thanks to IMF-approved aircraft tax concessions.

Farooq Sattar, the chairman of the privatization committee, underlined the importance of giving PIA workers at least five years of job security. Employee protection will continue to be a top priority and will be resolved prior to bidding, the Privatization Commission promised.

PIA’s liabilities totaling Rs650 billion have already been assumed by the government, and an additional Rs45 billion in outstanding debts must be paid before the privatization process can begin. As of the now, PIA has assets around Rs155 billion and liabilities worth Rs200 billion. It will be necessary for the new buyer to expand the fleet by 15 to 20 aircraft.

Additionally, the Privatization Committee has sought a timeline for the privatization of Faisalabad, Gujranwala, and Islamabad Electric Supply Companies. Officials stated that after the appointment of a financial advisor, the privatization process for these companies will accelerate.