Daily Times

The Pakistan Stock Exchange plummeted on Monday amid escalating global tensions. Fear of a war sent panicking investors offload equity stocks. The benchmark KSE 100 Index ended the trading session 2.43% lower to close at 41,296.24. The benchmark KSE 100 Index, which opened the session at 41,900.35, stooped to its intraday low at 41,207.16 after losing 1,116.14 points (-2.71pc). The KMI 30 Index declined by 1,892.86 points or -2.75pc to end at 66,985.53, while the KSE All Share Index lost 628.48 points, settling at 29,145.52. Out of the total traded shares, only 28 advanced while 300 declined. The All Share Volume decreased by 56.25 million to 266.63 million shares. Market cap decreased by Rs 169.21 billion.

The volume chart was led by K-Electric Limited followed by Unity Foods Limited and The Bank of Punjab. The scripts had exchanged 46.03 million, 17.57 million and 16.87 million shares, respectively. Sector wise, the index was let down by Commercial Banks with 186 points, Fertilizer with 155 points, Cement with 111 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 92 points and Power Generation & Distribution with 85 points.

Among the companies the most points taken off the index was by ENGRO which stripped the index of 97 points followed by Hub Power Company Limited with 65 points, Lucky Cement Limited with 53 points, with 48 points and Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited with 36 points.

Meanwhile, The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) released its first quarterly report on the ‘State of Pakistan’s Economy’ for FY2020. According to the report, Pakistan’s economy moved progressively along the adjustment path during the first quarter of FY20. “The macroeconomic stabilisation process picked up momentum with the initiation of the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility programme; the SBP continued to keep the monetary policy consistent with the medium-term inflation target, whereas consolidation efforts were visible on the fiscal front.” According to the report, the payoff from ongoing stabilisation efforts has become visible in the form of declining twin deficits. The current account deficit in Q1FY20 fell to less than half of last year’s level, primarily on the back of significant import compression. Owing to low unit prices, exports growth remained low. However, in volumetric terms exports witnessed noticeable growth.

On the external front, the balance of payments continued to improve during Q1FY20. Besides significant improvement in the trade deficit, and with the receipt of the first Extended Fund Facility tranche from the IMF and increase in foreign portfolio investment, the current account gap was plugged by the available financial flows. These inflows also helped the SBP to increase its foreign exchange reserves by $656.2 million and reduce its net forward liabilities by $1.3 billion during the quarter.

Asia: Stock Markets across Asia slumped as US-Iran tensions dampened Investors’ confidence. Global tensions elevated on Friday after Iran’s top military commander was killed in a US airstrike in Baghdad, which raised concerns of retaliation from Iranian forces. The Iranian regime said Sunday that it would no longer abide by uranium enrichment limits established in the 2015 nuclear deal, which the US unilaterally withdrew from in 2018.Subsequently after Iraqi parliament passed a resolution calling for the government to expel foreign troops including U.S troops from the country, following the US airstrike carried out on its soil, US president Trump threatened to slap sanctions.