Daily Times

Pakistan Stock exchange (PSX) witnessed lack of interest amid lack of triggers. In the second last trading day of the year 2019, market did show some positive momentum initially ,however, it lost momentum as the selling pressure witnessed in Banking and E&P sector drove down the index. The equity market ended today’s trade on a slightly positive note as it surpassed 40,800 level.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index, which opened the session at 40,971.38, touched its intraday high at 41,295.28 after accumulating 446.75 points. The index then reversed its direction during the final hour and posted its intraday low at 40,815.80. It ended higher by 39.09 or (0.1%) points at 40,887.62. The KMI-30 index gained 488.99 points to close at 66,441.83, while the KSE All Share Index managed inched up by 84.27 points, ending at 29,101.84.

The overall market volumes remained thin and were recorded at 165.83 million, of which 110.68 million came from the KSE-100 scripts. Sectors that pared the early gains accumulated in the morning session included banking, oil and gas exploration and transport. The most points taken off the index was by Habib Bank Limited which stripped the index of 63 points followed by Muslim Commercial Bank with 35 points, Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited with 27 points, United Bank Limited with 23 points and Bank Al Habib Limited with 21 points.

On the other hand, fertiliser sector, power generation & distribution sector and cement sector managed to keep the index a float. The most points added to the index was by ENGRO which contributed 74 points followed by Lucky Cement Limited with 30 points, The Hub Power Company with 22 points, K-Electric Limited with 18 points and Pakistan State Oil with 12 points.

Meanwhile, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on said the benefits of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will start to trickle into the productive sectors of the economy including industry and agriculture during the year 2020.

The first phase of CPEC (early harvest projects) addressed key infrastructure gaps in the economy with focus on energy and transport bottlenecks, he said in an article.

He said the big projects under CPEC targeted to be completed in 2020 include the trade and transport connectivity projects of KKH Phase-II Havelian-Thakot (118km) road and the Sukkur-Multan (392km) highway.

These projects will significantly reduce the transit time and encourage greater trade of goods and services. Whereas, he said Rs40 billion in Chinese grants is being invested in Gwadar for upgrading the airport and roads infrastructure.

He said the big project targeted to be launched in 2020, is the up-gradation of the Railways Main Line (ML-1), a $9 billion project – which will significantly enhance the railway infrastructure for trade in goods and services.

In Asia,: Stock markets trading mixed on the last full trading day of the year for several major markets in the region. Investors continue to consolidate recent gains amid optimism over easing trade tensions between U.S and China.

Shanghai composite traded over one per cent higher and closed at an eight month high. The Shanghai composite gained 1.16% to end at 3,040.02, while the Shenzhen composite was higher by 0.92% and closed at 1,713.51.China’s central bank decided to use the loan prime rate as a new benchmark for pricing current floating-rate loans to boost growth.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost over half a per cent amid weak economic indicators. The benchmark index edged lower 0.76% to close at 23,656.62. Autos lost ground across the board, with Honda down 1.15%, Mitsubishi falling 1.29%, and Suzuki declining 1.04%. Other sectors, such as manufacturing and retail, also saw declines.

Hong kong’s Hang Seng has gained nearly half a per cent. Seoul’s Kospi also traded fractionally lower after paring early gains.Heavy weights declined, with Samsung Electronics losing 1.24%, and SK Hynix dropping 1.98%.

Meanwhile international oil priceslost three quarters of a per cent exhibiting sluggish trend in the market ahead of holiday week.