Weekly review: Market rally continues as KSE-100 soars to record high
Volumes shoot up 17% as investor sentiments remain positive.
Volumes shoot up 17% as investor sentiments remain positive.
KARACHI:
The stock market’s rally showed no signs of coming to an end as the benchmark KSE-100 index posted another gain of 441 points (1.7%) on its way to hitting a new record high of 26,488 points during the week ended January 10.
Market participation remained healthy and the index closed positive in all the trading sessions during the week. The latest gains mean that the KSE-100 index has managed to sustain the strong gains witnessed in 2013 as it has climbed 4.9% in the first ten days of 2014.
The week began on a positive note on the back of lower-than-expected inflation numbers reported towards the end of the previous week and were provided support from various announcements by the government and the International Monetary Fund.
The lower inflation figures for December 2013 meant that the chances of a further discount rate hike in the January monetary policy announcement are much lower than previously expected. However, investors should take the news with a grain of salt, as according to news sources, the government has assured the IMF that it will continue to raise the discount rate moving forward.
The IMF, however, also provided some good news to the investors in the form of raising its estimates for the country’s GDP growth from 0.3% to 2.8%.
During the week, the privatisation commission approved the decision to move ahead with the privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines and also to offload the government stakes in several major commercial banks and oil and gas companies.
The government intends to revive the fortunes of the country’s flag-bearing airline by selling it to a strategic investor and raise almost Rs175 billion by offloading its stakes in the public companies via secondary public offerings.
The fertiliser sector remained in the news as the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) called a meeting of the stakeholders to review the recent hike in urea prices and also to sort out the gas pricing issue for Engro’s Enven plant.
The cement sector also reported a 5% year-on-year growth in December sales figures and attracted investor interest. The ECC also approved the $40 million investment by Lucky Cement in a joint venture in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Foreigners seem to have taken a backseat and were net buyers of only $0.5 million worth of equity. However, it was an improvement over the $6.7 million offloaded in the previous week.
Average trading volumes jumped 17.3% and stood at 319.5 million shares traded per day. Average daily value also improved 21.2% and stood at a healthy Rs10.38 billion traded per day. The market capitalisation of the Karachi Stock Exchange rose 2.7% and stood at Rs6.42 trillion at the end of the week.
Winners of the week
Lafarge Pakistan
Lafarge Pakistan Cement Company Limited manufactures and sells cement.
Murree Brewery
Murree Brewery Company specialises in the manufacture of beer and liquor. The group also has juice extraction and food manufacturing divisions, located at Rawalpindi and Hattar, respectively. Their glass division manufactures all the group’s bottles and jars.
National Foods
National Foods Limited is a diversified food manufacturer. The Group’s products include recipe blends, dehydrated vegetables, pickles, salts, snack foods, desserts, and a number of kinds of health foods.
Losers of the week
JDW Sugar Mills
JDW Sugar Mills produces and sells crystalline sugar. The company is located in Rahimyar Khan, and was formerly named United Sugar Mills Limited.
Bata Pakistan
Bata Pakistan Limited manufactures and sells rubber, leather, and microlon sandals and shoes.
Kohinoor Textile Mills
Kohinoor Textile Mills Limited produces textiles. The company weaves, dyes, and prints natural and synthetic fibres.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2014.
The stock market’s rally showed no signs of coming to an end as the benchmark KSE-100 index posted another gain of 441 points (1.7%) on its way to hitting a new record high of 26,488 points during the week ended January 10.
Market participation remained healthy and the index closed positive in all the trading sessions during the week. The latest gains mean that the KSE-100 index has managed to sustain the strong gains witnessed in 2013 as it has climbed 4.9% in the first ten days of 2014.
The week began on a positive note on the back of lower-than-expected inflation numbers reported towards the end of the previous week and were provided support from various announcements by the government and the International Monetary Fund.
The lower inflation figures for December 2013 meant that the chances of a further discount rate hike in the January monetary policy announcement are much lower than previously expected. However, investors should take the news with a grain of salt, as according to news sources, the government has assured the IMF that it will continue to raise the discount rate moving forward.
The IMF, however, also provided some good news to the investors in the form of raising its estimates for the country’s GDP growth from 0.3% to 2.8%.
During the week, the privatisation commission approved the decision to move ahead with the privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines and also to offload the government stakes in several major commercial banks and oil and gas companies.
The government intends to revive the fortunes of the country’s flag-bearing airline by selling it to a strategic investor and raise almost Rs175 billion by offloading its stakes in the public companies via secondary public offerings.
The fertiliser sector remained in the news as the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) called a meeting of the stakeholders to review the recent hike in urea prices and also to sort out the gas pricing issue for Engro’s Enven plant.
The cement sector also reported a 5% year-on-year growth in December sales figures and attracted investor interest. The ECC also approved the $40 million investment by Lucky Cement in a joint venture in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Foreigners seem to have taken a backseat and were net buyers of only $0.5 million worth of equity. However, it was an improvement over the $6.7 million offloaded in the previous week.
Average trading volumes jumped 17.3% and stood at 319.5 million shares traded per day. Average daily value also improved 21.2% and stood at a healthy Rs10.38 billion traded per day. The market capitalisation of the Karachi Stock Exchange rose 2.7% and stood at Rs6.42 trillion at the end of the week.
Winners of the week
Lafarge Pakistan
Lafarge Pakistan Cement Company Limited manufactures and sells cement.
Murree Brewery
Murree Brewery Company specialises in the manufacture of beer and liquor. The group also has juice extraction and food manufacturing divisions, located at Rawalpindi and Hattar, respectively. Their glass division manufactures all the group’s bottles and jars.
National Foods
National Foods Limited is a diversified food manufacturer. The Group’s products include recipe blends, dehydrated vegetables, pickles, salts, snack foods, desserts, and a number of kinds of health foods.
Losers of the week
JDW Sugar Mills
JDW Sugar Mills produces and sells crystalline sugar. The company is located in Rahimyar Khan, and was formerly named United Sugar Mills Limited.
Bata Pakistan
Bata Pakistan Limited manufactures and sells rubber, leather, and microlon sandals and shoes.
Kohinoor Textile Mills
Kohinoor Textile Mills Limited produces textiles. The company weaves, dyes, and prints natural and synthetic fibres.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2014.