KARACHI: KSE-100 Index rose by 410 points week-on-week (WoW) to 42,934 points during the outgoing week buoyed by strong foreign buying, but expected to remain under pressure in upcoming week as Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) announced a protest rally over the Model Town massacre. Average volumes also remained high at 276 million shares as compared to 213 million shares during last week which translates into an increase of 30 percent. Foreigners remained net buyers during the all ten trading sessions of the ongoing year as Pakistani Rupee depreciation and attractive valuations opened buying opportunities in the market. However political uncertainty dampened market exuberance which resultedin profit taking by domestic investors over the last two trading sessions of the week. The unfortunate incidents in Qasur added fuel to the ongoing struggle by Pakistan Awami Tehreek’s (PAT) against the sitting government. Elixir Research Department says Pakistan equities have so far witnessed net inflows of $ 49 million in January. The resultant turnaround in sentiments and advent of much needed liquidity should keep the momentum going into the next week. However the announced street protests by PAT, along with support from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (and potentially Pakistan People’s Party), from January 17 would be a sentiment dampener. “If the opposition parties manage to stir strong street power, it may open the doors for profit-taking as KSE-100 has already posted a sharp rally of 13 percent from its December-2017 lows.” The past week also marked the release of trade data by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) where the country’s exports during first half of FY18 increased 11.2 percent year-on-year YoY to $ 11 billion while imports grew to $29 billion, up 19.1 percent YoY. Consequently Pakistan’s trade deficit widened to $ 18 billion. Meanwhile remittances increased only 2.5 percent YoY to $9.7 billion raising concerns on foreign reserves and Pakistani Rupee/US Dollar parity. During the outgoing week, market volumes continued to be driven by retail friendly stocks led by WorldCall Telecom (101 million shares) which held an Analyst Briefing on Monday to guide about its recent restructuring and future plans. Other volume leaders included The Resource Group (91 million shares) and Azgard Nine (63 million shares). Sui North Gas (SNGP) led the market return during the outgoing week rising 18.7 percent WoW to add 110 points to the benchmark index. This followed as a reaction of last week’s ECC approval of Rs 175 billion for the LNG-III pipeline project to be undertaken jointly by SNGPL and (SSGC). Foreign investors remained the biggest buyers in the market purchasing shares worth $26.4 million. Meanwhile Banks/DFIs and other organizations remained the biggest sellers during the week liquidating positions worth $18.5 million and $7.8 million, respectively. Published in Daily Times, January 14th 2018.