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Pakistan Stock Exchange remained under pressure during the outgoing week ended on November 30, 2018 due to selling in various sectors. BRIndex100 lost 44.19 points on week-on-week basis and closed at 4,276.25 points. Average daily volumes stood at 140.427 million shares. BRIndex30 decreased by 687.76 points to close at 21,979.86 points with average daily turnover of 82.148 million shares.

Pakistan's benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 373.25 points on week-on-week basis and closed at 40,496.03 points. The average daily trading volumes on ready counter decreased by 3.1 percent to 151.99 million shares as compared to previous week's average of 156.88 million shares. Average daily trading value however increased by 30.4 percent to Rs 9.71 billon.

The foreign investors remained net sellers of shares worth $48.4 million during the week as compared to an outflow of $11.3 million during previous week. An analyst at AKD Securities said a tussle between bulls and bears ended with the dominance of bears, as KSE-100 index lost another 373 points during the week to close at 40,496 points, down 0.91 percent on week-on-week basis.

Lack of clarity on external funding amidst foreign selling pressure ($51.1 million against $11.6 million in the last week) post MSCI rebalancing kept the domestic market under pressure. Performance wise, top gainers in AKD Universe were EFOODS (up 4.42 percent), PPL (up 3.45 percent), MCB (up 3.04 percent), OGDC (up 2.61 percent) and HBL (up 2.35 percent) while the top losers included CHCC (down 13.81 percent), ASTL (down 10.80 percent), PIOC (down 9.78 percent), FCCL (down 9.7 percent) and LUCK (down 7.23 percent).

An analyst at JS Global Capital said that the benchmark KSE-100 index witnessed a correction during this week, posting an attrition of 373 points or 0.9 percent. On sector-wise performance, the refinery sector emerged as one of the laggards, posting a decline of 11 percent primarily on the back of news reports indicating towards rise in Furnace Oil inventories, leading to lowest utilization levels; and if not rectified can lead to closure of manufacturing units.

Similarly, investors chose to book profit on the cement sector (down 6.8 percent) after its continued positive momentum in the past couple of weeks. On the other hand, Commercial Banks turned positive, posting a return of up 1.8 percent, primarily on the expectation of hike in the Policy Rate. Oil & Gas Exploration Companies (up 2.8 percent) also closed positive during the week, whereas international oil prices declined by 7 percent to $59.85/bbl. Additionally, owing to rebalancing of MSCI-EM stocks Lucky Cement (LUCK, down 7.2 percent) and United Bank (UBL, up 1.7 percent) remained in the limelight during the week.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2018


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