Morning Market Brief 20th May 2022

Technical Overview

The Benchmark KSE100 index had face rejection from a horizontal resistant region again during last trading session and have created a hammer against daily morning shooting star therefore it's recommended to stay cautious and post trailing stop loss on existing long positions. As of now index would try to establish ground above 42,700pts initially on intraday basis but breakout below this region would call for 42,500pts and 42,330pts. Daily and intraday momentum indicators are still in bearish mode and it's expected that if index would succeed in maintaining above 42,500pts then it may take a spike to retest its resistant region which fall at 43,200pts. Overall sentiment would remain bearish until index succeeds in closing above 44,200pts.

Asian shares tumble as global growth fears mount

Asian stocks tracked a steep Wall Street selloff on Thursday, as investors fretted over rising global inflation, China's zero-COVID policy and the Ukraine war, while the safe-haven dollar held most of its strong overnight gains.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 2% in early Asian trading hours, the first daily decline in a week. Japan's Nikkei tumbled 2.4%.Pulling it lower was a 1.5% loss for Australia's resource-heavy index, a 2.6% drop in Hong Kong stocks and a 1% retreat for blue chips in mainland China.Overnight on Wall Street, earnings reports from retail giants soured sentiment, with Target Corp (TGT.N) warning of a bigger margin hit due to rising fuel and freight costs as it reported its quarterly profit had halved. One day earlier, Walmart Inc warned of similar margin squeezes.Read More...

Business News

SC Bars Transfers, New Appointments In High-Profile Cases

The Supreme Court of Pakistan Thursday barred the authorities from removing, transfers/postings of the officers engaged in the investigation and prosecution of high profile cases.The apex court also stopped the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from withdrawing such cases till further orders. A five-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar issued the directions while hearing the sou moto notice regarding the apprehension of undermining the criminal justice system by persons in authority. The bench said that prima facie violation of Article 10A, 25 and 4 of the Constitution.Read More...

Imran Says Will Give Call For Islamabad March Today

Reiterating his demand for early elections to end the on-going political uncertainty in the country, Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday announced that he would give the call for his much-awaited long march to Islamabad today. Addressing a group of PTI’s youth at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House, Khan said that he would announce the date for the protest long march today during his party’s rally scheduled to be held in Multan.“PTI will hold its last public gathering in Multan before the march begins and I will announce the day when the entire nation has to reach Islamabad,” he said while addressing his charged supporters.Former prime minister Khan said that the purpose for the Islamabad march will be to get “real independence”. One the ‘independence’ is that in which we used to get dictation from abroad not to import wheat and oil from Russia etc., he said. But the real freedom is that all decisions are made for the betterment of the nation.Read More...

Stocks drift lower on economic concerns

The stock market witnessed another range-bound session on Thursday as concerns over the rupee’s devaluation against the dollar kept investors on the sidelines, according to Arif Habib Ltd.The local currency depreciated 0.81 per cent on a day-on-day basis to touch the psychological barrier of 200 in the interbank market.The movement in the KSE-100 index remained subdued because investors awaited clarity on the resumption of the loan programme with the International Monetary Fund. Activity on the main board remained dull, although hefty volumes were observed in third-tier stocks, it said.As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 42,983.45 points, down 43.43 points or 0.1pc from a day ago.Read More...

Better to take tough decisions on energy, fuel prices now: Khurram Dastgir

Apparently setting the stage for reversing fuel and electricity discounts amid negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the coalition government’s energy ministers on Thursday said the tough decisions now would be better than even tougher choices six months later.“Reduction in the international prices (of oil, gas and coal) is not expected over the short to medium term period, not in six months at least. Therefore, responsibility requires it is better to take difficult decisions now, rather even more difficult decisions six months later,” said Federal Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan at a joint news conference with Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Musaddik Malik.Read More...