PSX closes rollover week with a loss of 463 points

• Pakistan Stock Exchange ends four out of five sessions in red.
• Foreigners turned net sellers and offloaded stocks worth $4.4 million during the week.
• Market players are expected to react to the newly devised economic roadmap for 14 sectors next week.

KARACHI: The stock market witnessed tepid trading in the outgoing futures rollover week as COVID concerns and geopolitical tensions kept market participants mostly on the sidelines. Resultantly, the benchmark KSE-100 index shed 463 points or 1% to end the week at 47,136.53 points.

“The benchmark KSE-100 index closed the week on a negative note over COVID concerns, regional politics' influence and lack of positive triggers,” said JS Global analyst Muhammad Waqas Ghani.

Bears ruled four out of the five trading sessions at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). Trading kicked off on a bullish note as investors interest in index-heavy sectors, a significant jump in international oil prices and news reports of Airlift – a Pakistani startup – securing $85 million in Series B funding triggered a rally in exploration and production and technology sectors. Bulls drove the index over 48,000-point mark on Monday.

However, the positive momentum was short-lived as bears staged a comeback on Tuesday and dominated the rest of the four sessions. Unfortunately, the market failed to sustain the momentum and fell below 48,000-point mark.

During the week under review, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin conducted a meeting with the stakeholders of the cement industry, where he emphasised the need to reduce prices of cement and steel products to help uplift the construction industry.

Despite an optimistic outlook for the sector, foreigners turned net sellers and offloaded stocks worth $4.4 million during the week. Major selling witnessed in the cement sector.

Moreover, earlier during the week Pakistani rupee lost ground and plunged to nearly an 11-month low of Rs166.3 against the US dollar in the inter-bank market, which added fuel to the bearish momentum.

Investors were further spooked by dismal economic data, which included a 21% year-on-year decline in foreign investors' repatriations, a current account deficit of $773 million in July 2021 and a trade deficit of $694 million during July 2021.

Market players are expected to react to the news of the three-year economic roadmap announced by the government for 14 key sectors and the newly launched Roshan Apna Ghar scheme next week.

Sector-wise major losers were refinery 4.6%, oil and gas marketing companies 4.1%, cement 3.7% and power 2.6%. Meanwhile, exploration and production, banks, and the auto sector contributed positively to the index.

During the week, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) received $2.75 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank fell $47 million to $17.58 million.