After last week's euphoria, the stock market remained declining this week. The KSE100 Index lost 1050 points and closed at 45,553 down 2.26% for the week ending 22April.
Individuals remained on the sidelines after higher participation last week. Next week being roll over week was also a consideration for Individuals. PSX showed a massive rise of 4.8% last week; in view of which it was expected that market participants would assess the economic and political situation this week and concrete signs of progress.
One negative development this week was higher cut off, of 3Months paper by 70 bps. See this. This increased Kibor to 13.84% today. 'Mutual Funds' consequently were net sellers this week. Their selling this week was higher than their trend in the last couple of weeks. Market was not under any selling pressure for several weeks now. This week on account of Mutual Funds was odd.
Earnings season has started this week in full swing with several companies announcing good financial results. But market participants would require clarity on the IMF program. The FM has left for Washington for negotiations and expectations are high. In all, probability, it seems that the FATF may exclude Pakistan from its so-called Gray List now. So on this front things appear rosy.
'Individuals' were net buyers of more than $7mn this week despite muted activity. 'Individuals' remain the biggest concern regarding trading activity at PSX. 'Mutual Funds' net sellers of $6.3mn worth is stocks, and were the main reason for market decline this week. See this.
The Rupee kept losing ground against the US dollar throughout the week in sharp contrast to its recovery last week. Most probably it was Umrah effect. So as the rush was over Rupee made a slight recovery today. This week the Rupee weakened by Rs 5/-
Good news that the total liquid foreign Resrves stood at US$ 17.05 billion as of April 16, 2022. See details. So no decline after several weeks of consistent downward trend.
SBP released data for March balance of payments a bit late. see twt. March deficit was high at $ 1bn. Good things that exports were also high at $3bn. download bop data.
The World Bank has warned of a “human catastrophe” from a food crisis. The World Bank calculates there could be a “huge” 37 percent jump in food prices. Both Russia and Ukraine are key exporters of grain and supply nearly 30 percent of wheat and nearly 20 percent of corn in the global market. Read on.
This week IMF released its 'Global Financial stability Stability Report'. Download pdf.