Summary Index closed at 44551 points recording a gain of 0.86 per cent on week on week basis.
KARACHI (DUnya News) - The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed with smaller gains but foreign fund houses were in the upbeat mood and total investment since beginning of the new year reached to 94 million dollars.
Index closed at 44551 points recording a gain of 0.86 per cent on week on week basis. The average volume on all-share index and PSX-100 was recorded at 275 million shares and 131 million shares respectively.
The downgrade of Pakistan’s credit outlook by Fitch from stable to negative on account of 1) political uncertainty, 2) fall in foreign exchange reserves coupled by widening twin deficits led to the equity market paring recent gains.
The latest fertilizer off-take figures released by NFDC for Dec 17, which depicted total urea sales of 717,000 showing an increase of 20 percent compared with same period last year, was the highest level in the last six years failed to spur any excitement in the sector as it closed marginally in the red.
With the ongoing earnings season in full swing, and a bloated index, analysts expect a heightened level of volatility therefore warranting a cautious stance. “We recommend exposure in sound blue chips with steady dividend yields alongside profit taking to safeguard gains”, they remarked.
Traders were of the view that the market performance in next week to be led by interest in banking sector following upward revision in discount rate. The State Bank raised interest rate by 25 bps to 6 percent. Furthermore, with the start of quarterly/annual results season, any positive earnings surprise may act as a catalyst for market direction. Some of the big names which are slated to announce their financial results next week, include Fauji Fertilizer Co (FFC) and Pakistan Refinery Ltd (PRL).
(Details by Haris Zamir)
