LAHORE: Pakistan equities experienced a dull trading session on Tuesday, where negative sentiments persisted as the index lost 189 points (or -0.46 per cent). Investors continued to adopt the wait and see approach, as the session remained trigger-less and upcoming State Bank of Pakistan’s Monetary Policy pressed investors to be cautious.
With a positive start to the day, KSE 100 index climbed up by 187.01 points to reach intraday high of 41,081.23 in the early hours of trading. It then swung in both directions until finally, it chose a direction and after losing 240.51 points touched intraday low of 40,653.71. The index settled lower by 189.42 points at 40,704.80. The KMI 30 index lost 436.65 points to close at 69,149.04. Whereas, the KSE All Share index fell short by 71.82 points to end at 29,370.53. The advancers to decliners ratio stood at 130 to 206.
Amid slower off take of Furnace Oil (FO) due to the government’s shift towards gas, coal, renewable-based power production, supply chain of all refineries are in fragile position, which led NRL to shed 4.4 per cent, followed by ATRL (-2.9 per cent), BYCO(-2 per cent) and PRL (-1.63 per cent).
Market volumes declined from 132.33 million in the preceding session to 124.11 million. The volume chart was led by K-Electric Limited (KEL +4.61 per cent) with 12.64 million shares exchanged. Followed by Siddiqsons Tin Plate Limited (STPL +4.65 per cent) and Lotte Chemical Pakistan Limited (LOTCHEM -0.41 per cent). The scripts had 7.37 million and 6.01 million shares traded respectively.
The power generation and distribution sector gained 1.61 per cent in its market capitalisation. While, commercial banking sector (-0.22 per cent), oil and gas exploration sector (-0.79 per cent), cement sector (-0.88 per cent) and tobacco sector (1.59 per cent) all ended negatively.
Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC) is likely to set up its second assembly plant at Port Qasim, Karachi, as per news reports. This could increase the company’s annual manufacturing capacity by 100,000 vehicles per year. This led investors to flock towards the stock as it closed at its Upper Cap at Rs257.05.
Investor participation was mixed on Tuesday as traded volumes declined by 6 per cent to 124 million, while the traded value rose by 1 per cent to $49 million.
It was also reported that the Finance Minister Asad Umer in an interview with a media agency was reported to have said that the government can afford a two-month delay to deferred bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with dialogues expected to continue Thursday.
On the economic front, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Tuesday has decided to borrow Rs200 billion, by pledging public properties with six banks to temporarily help settle the circular debt of the power sector by 30 per cent.
Meanwhile, Siemens (PAK) Eng Co. (SIEM) announced its 4Q18 results, posting an EPS of Rs13.9, down 85 per cent YoY. This is due to an 11 per cent YoY decline in sales, a 10 percentage points YoY decrease in gross profit margins and an effective tax rate of 57 per cent versus a tax benefit in the same period last year.
The federal government has summoned office bearers of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) in Islamabad over their failure in initiating sugarcane crushing season, while the millers are demanding immediate export subsidy, citing the high cost of doing business.
The new tariff policy drafted by the Commerce Division has been finalised after consultations with all stakeholders in government and industry, and is now ready for transmittal to the federal cabinet, Secretary Commerce Mohammad Younus Dagha told Media Outlets.
Moreover, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said the government is moving in the right direction and it will fulfil its promises. The prime minister said this while chairing a meeting to review his 100-day plan as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) completes its first 100 days in office.
