Morning Market Brief 18th May 2021

The Benchmark KSE100 index had continued its bullish journey during last trading session and succeeded in closing above its major resistant region of 45,500pts. As of now its heading towards its double top on hourly and daily chart therefore it's recommended to stay cautious as it may some pressure from that level. It's recommended to post trailing stop loss on existing long positions as index may face some selling pressure between 45,960pts to 46,200pts but daily closing above 46,200pts would push index into bullish zone therefore on breakout of this region new long positions could be initiated with targets at 46,800pts and 47,000pts, but until breakout of this region it's recommended to adopt swing trading. While on flip side index would try to establish ground above 45,500pts initially and breakout below this region would push index towards 45,200pts. Hourly momentum seems exhausting but daily momentum indicators are still in bullish mode therefore it can be expected that index may take an intraday dip during current trading session if it would not succeed in penetration above 45,960pts-46,200pts.

 

Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan decrease 5.57pc

Pakistan’s exports of goods and services to Afghanistan witnessed a decrease of 5.57 percent during the first nine months of financial year (2020-21) as compared to the corresponding period of last year, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported. The overall exports to Afghanistan were recorded at $746.328 million during July-March (2020-21) against exports of $790.377 million during July-March (2019-20), showing decline of 5.57 percent, the SBP data revealed. Meanwhile, on year-to-year basis, the exports to Afghanistan during March 2021 however increased by 90.67 percent, from $61.121 million against the exports of $116.541 million. On month-on-month basis, the exports to Afghanistan also rose by 36.02 percent during March 2021 as compared to the exports of $85.674 million in February 2021, the SBP data revealed.Read More...

The government has reconstituted the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) with Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Fayyaz Ahmed Tarin as its chairman. According to a notification issued by the cabinet division, finance minister Shaukat Fayyaz Ahmed Tarin would chair the ECNEC meetings after government has removed two finance ministers in last few weeks. The PTI government has removed Abdul Hafeez Shaikh from the post of finance minister, and Muhammad Hammad Azhar was given the additional charge of the minister for finance and revenue. However, the government also replaced Hammad with Tarin as finance and revenue minister. The government now appointed Shaukat Fayyaz Ahmed Tarin as head of the ECNEC. Other members of the ECNEC are federal minister for planning and development Asad Umar, federal minister for energy Muhammad Hammad Azhar, federal minister for industries and production Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar, would continue to be the federal member.Read More...

Central Development Working Party (CDWP) Monday approved five projects worth Rs25.7 billion. The CDWP meeting was presided over by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan. The forum cleared four development projects with a cumulative estimated cost of Rs. 8.7b & and recommended one project worth Rs. 17b to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for further consideration.Secretary Planning, senior officials from Planning Commission and Federal Ministries/Divisions also participated in the meeting while representatives from provincial governments participated through video conference. Projects were related to energy, physical planning & housing, science & technology.Read More...

With the next general elections in mind, the PTI government will introduce an agriculture reform package worth Rs110 billion in the upcoming budget, besides increasing lending by almost 80 per cent to Rs2.7 trillion to substantially enhance crops’ output and farmers’ income within three years. Flanked by Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Agriculture Jamshed Iqbal Cheema said at a press conference that the Rs110bn package would be implemented in three years and would be financed by the Centre and the provinces on a 50:50 pro rata basis. The federal government alone would be allocating roughly Rs25-30bn in the coming budget for first year, Mr Cheema said, adding that the exact amount would be announced once relevant approvals are secured.Read More...