Stocks end week with loss of 366 points amid tough IMF conditions

KARACHI: Stocks closed lower for the second consecutive day on Friday, as investors remained concerned over tough International Monetary Fund conditions for the $7 billion loan programme.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 share Index decreased by 365.83 points or 0.45 percent to 81,292.13 points against 81,657.97 points recorded in the last session. The highest index of the day remained at 81,842.75 points while the lowest level was recorded at 81,183.5 points.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said, “Stocks closed lower amid concerns for the IMF’s tough conditions, including ending energy subsidies, monitoring government spending, the closure of SOEs, and structural tax reforms to raise inflation in FY25.”

He said that ongoing political noise, delays over the privatization of SOEs, and pressure amid future contracts’ rollover played a catalyst role in the bearish close.The KSE-30 index decreased by 64.75 points or 0.25 per cent to 25,810.37 points against 25,875.13 points.

Traded shares dropped by 84 million shares to 339.323 million shares from 423.942 million shares. The trading value dropped to Rs12.893 billion from Rs17.671 billion. Market capital narrowed to Rs10.653 trillion against Rs10.713 trillion. Of the 439 companies active in the session, 129 closed in green, 234 in red and 76 remained unchanged.

Nabeel Haroon, an analyst at Topline Securities, said the KSE 100 Index largely remained under pressure, as the index declined by -0.45 percent to settle at 81,292 level. This pressure in the market can be attributed to foreign corporates selling over the last couple of trading sessions, which is keeping the investor sentiment in check, he said.

Major positive contribution to the index came from FFC, HUBC, EFERT, FFBL and LUCK, as they cumulatively contributed 220 points to the index, whereas MARI, UBL, MCB, NBP and Engro lost value to weigh down on the index by 279 points.

The highest increase was recorded in Hallmark Company Limited, which rose by Rs102.7 to Rs1,129.99 per share, followed by Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited, which increased by Rs92.46 to Rs7,346.75 per share. A significant decline was noted in Sapphire Textile Mills Limited, which fell by Rs40.23 to Rs1,217.39 per share; Premium Textile Mills Limited followed it, which closed lower by Rs29 to Rs260.99 per share.

Brokerage Arif Habib Ltd stated that the KSE-100 saw an intra-week high of 82,995 before closing by 0.9 per cent WoW. Pakistan’s first IMF review meeting is anticipated to take place in March or April. The Ministry of Finance reported that exports for September are projected to fall within the $2.5-$3 billion range, imports between $4.5 billion and $5 billion, and workers’ remittances between $2.7 billion and $3.2 billion.

Headline inflation for September 2024 is projected at 7.3 per cent YoY, marking the lowest level since January 2021. In the coming week, the market is expected to find support in the 80-81k zone, with a potential for resuming upside moves.

K-Electric Ltd remained the volume leader with 50.666 million shares which closed lower by 17 paisas to Rs3.67 per share. WorldCall Telecom followed it with 32.405 million shares, which closed lower by 3 paisas to Rs1.20 per share.

Other significant turnover stocks included Hub Power Co. XD, Secure Logistics Gro, Kohinoor Spinning, Cneryico PK, Image Pakistan, Pace (Pak) Ltd, Nishat ChunPow and National Bank XD.In the futures market, 347 companies recorded trading, of which 69 increased, 271 decreased and 7 remained unchanged.