KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday ended the first week of 2024 on a high note with the benchmark KSE-100 Index recording 3.3% increase to reach 64,515 points.
The benchmark index plunged after a strong start of the week as well as the new year and gained 2,211 points on Monday. The prevailing political uncertainty continued to affect trading.
According to a note by AKD Securities, the economic indicators, however, remained positive throughout the week. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported a 23-week high in its foreign exchange reserves, which rose by $1.3 billion in the last two weeks of December 2023.
The reserves stood at $8.22 billion as of December 29, 2023, and are expected to increase further with the anticipated $700 million second tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in January 2024.
The exports also reached an 18-month high of $2.8 billion in December 2023, reducing the trade deficit by 40% year-on-year.
The current account deficit remained under control, despite the surge in inflation, which reached 29.7% in December 2023, mainly due to the fuel price adjustments.
The market participation also improved slightly, with the average daily traded volumes rising by 5.4% week-on-week to 687 million shares.
The Pakistani Rupee also appreciated by 0.16% week-on-week against the US dollar, closing at PkR281.4 at the end of the week.
Pakistan’s dollar bonds gained 93% in 2023, outperforming most of the emerging markets, according to Bloomberg data.
According to the brokerage note, on the sectorial front, automobile parts & accessories, sugar and allied industries, and oil and gas exploration companies were the best performers, with a growth of 13.69%, 8.69%, and 7.93% week-on-week, respectively.
On the other hand, modarabas, cable and electrical goods, and miscellaneous sectors were the worst performers, with a decline of 3.00%, 2.55%, and 2.52% week-on-week, respectively.
The flow wise analysis showed that the individuals were the major net sellers, with a net sell of $10.63 million, while the other organizations were the major net buyers, with a net buy of $5.49 million.
The company wise analysis revealed that the top performers during the week were Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC), K-Electric (KEL), Honda Atlas Cars (HCAR), The Searle Company (SEARL), and Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), with a gain of 20.5%, 16.3%, 14.1%, 12.8%, and 11.2% week-on-week, respectively. The top laggards were Pakistan Services (PSEL), Aisha Steel Mills (ASL), Pakistan Tobacco Company (PAKT), Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), and Lotte Chemical Pakistan (LCI), with a loss of 5.5%, 2.9%, 2.7%, 2.7%, and 1.9% week-on-week, respectively.
