KSE-100 Index slips by 321.54 points in outgoing week
Last updated on: 29 September,2018 06:13 pm
Foreign investors continued to remain net sellers this week and net sold equities worth $9.4 million
(Dunya News) - The outgoing week saw the market trade sideways, keeping a close eye on the developments at the macro-economic front. Dwindling foreign exchange reserves, initiation of proceedings with the IMF for a fresh package and expectations of a rate hike all played their part in the index’s muted moves during the week.
Retail activity remained concentrated in penny stocks, while major cement and steel plays attracted institutional selling, which created an exodus of value from these stocks. OGDC was once again on the foreigners selling list as they offloaded positions during the week.
The KSE-100 Index slipped by 321.54 points or 0.78 percent during the outgoing week to close at 40,999 points.
Foreign investors continued to remain net sellers this week and net sold equities worth $9.4 million. Most of this was concentrated in banks amounting to $6.5 million and oil & gas worth $5.5 million. Conversely, cement witnessed buying of $6.1 million and fertilizer $0.5 million.
According to an analyst from Topline Securities, fertilizer and Chemical sectors remained under pressure, cumulatively pulling the index down by 210 points amid announcement of higher gas prices and anticipated increase in electricity prices. Cement sector gained 113 points as investors flocked to get hold of cement stocks amid rumors of increase in cement prices.
The market shall also closely track the ongoing visit of IMF delegation to conduct Article IV consultation with Pakistan. Any official statement hinting at Pakistan’s potential entry into IMF program may help in calming investors’ sentiment. The government is expected to finalize the recently announced proposals for supplementary budget where further fine tuning of government’s proposal of doing away with the requirement of being tax compliant for buyers of new cars and houses is likely, said an analyst from BMA Capital Management.
An analyst from Habib Metro Finance Securities recommended exposure in limited to fundamentally sound blue chips that offer decent yields. An emerging theme of high interest rates and likely rupee depreciation warrants avoiding stocks of companies that are import based and those that are heavily leveraged”, he pointed.