PSX closes week on flat note
Oil and banking stocks outperformed on higher global crude oil prices
KARACHI (Dunya News) – The capital market on the last session of the week remained flat as overbought situation forced several institutions to sell their holdings where most of the investors anxiously waiting for the deliberations to be released in the mini-budget.
Salman Ahmad, head of institutional sales said that overall trend was muted but few sectors outperformed the index and brisk activity was recorded.
He said on rumors that in the mini the upcoming mini budget there has been possibility that Gas Infrastructure Development Cess or GIDC would likely to be reduced to half. Currently the GIDC on fertilizer companies around Rs450 per mmbtu.
Some buying surfaced in refineries and pharmaceutical groups because government has imposed a ban on import of furnace oil and asked refineries to strike commercial agreement with power companies to buy their stocks. Moreover pharmaceutical shares came in the limelight where companies Rs3.91 to Rs42.37 following the Drug Regulatory Authority notification allowing companies raise the medicine prices in the range of 9 percent to 15 percent.
Ahsan Mehanti, from Arif Habib Corporation said that the bearish activity witnessed at PSX as investor weigh Moody’s warnings over Pakistan debt repayment plan.
Oil and banking stocks outperformed on higher global crude oil prices and reports of rising banking spreads. Upbeat data on $10.7 billion remittances for Jul-Dec 18, $2.08 billon exports and $2.36 billion narrowing trade deficit for Dec 18 invited mid-session support.
He added that the investor concerns for falling FX reserves, surging govt borrowings, pending circular debt and uncertainty over terms of IMF bailout package played a catalyst role in bearish close at PSX.
Auto shares also suffered declines under the lead of Indus Motor down Rs6.23 and Honda Atlas down by Rs0.50 per share on the data showing that car sales in 1300cc above category was shocked on month on month basis. Auto sales last month dropped by 23 percent to 6523 units if compared with November 2018 in 1300cc segment. However in below 1000cc segment sales car recorded an increase of 47 percent to 3228 units this help increase the share price of Pak Suzuki which recorded a rise of Rs3.55.
Millat Tractors registered substantial decline of Rs28.69 per share on announcement placed with the PSX that plant will closed for one more week and now resume operation from January 21, 2018. Millat Tractors has shut down its manufacturing plant from December 10, 2018 as a part of its annual maintenance plan.
Pakistan Stock Exchange 100 index was down 41.20 points to close at 39049 points where some 161 companies showed minus signs as against 130 plus signs.
