Daily Times

The market movements Friday were reflective of a seesaw, where the KSE-100 index juggled between green and red, making an intraday low of -123 points, and an intraday high of +91 points to close at 40,265 levels, down 24 points.

An equity analyst at Trust Securities said slightly panicked situation prevailed at the bourse when the market remained uncertain and followed the same pattern throughout the day. Macros were the main concern after UN said Pakistan’s GDP growth rate is projected to slow down markedly in 2019 and 2020 to below four percent and inflation to rise to 7.3 percent, as well as the economy is facing severe balance of payment difficulties amid large twin fiscal and current account deficits, a visible decline in international reserves and mounting pressures on the domestic currency.

Total volume was recorded at 156 million shares, down 37 percent from the last session. Bank of Punjab (BoP) with 0.5 percent gains and Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Limited (PIBTL) losing 0.5 percent led the volumes with almost 44 million shares changing hands.

On the news front, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) confirmed that Pakistan has received $1 billion from United Arab Emirates (UAE) to help bridge country’s current account deficit.

International Steels Limited (ISL) lost 0.4 percent value following the announcement of its first half FY19 result, where the company posted Earnings per Share (EPS) of Rs4.02 and a cash payout of Rs1.50 per share which came in line with our expectations.

Investors’ interest was witnessed in Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and United Bank Limited (UBL) from the banking space which cumulatively contributed +63 points to the index. Cement sector witnessed profit booking where Fauji Cement Company Limited (FCCL), Pioneer Cement Company (PIOC), DG Khan Cement (DGKC), Chitral Cement Company (CHCC) and Lucky Cement (LUCK) lost value to close in the red zone.

Published in Daily Times, January 26^th 2019.