Morning Market Brief 22nd Dec. 2020

The Benchmark KSE100 index have faced rejection from resistant trend line of its bullish price channel during last trading session and have formatted an evening shooting star on daily chart. It's recommended to wait for confirmation of this evening shooting star before initiating new short positions because index have strong supportive regions ahead between 43,000pts-42,800pts and incase it would succeed in establishing ground above these regions then it would bounce back again to retest its resistant regions. For current trading session it's expected that index would take a dip initially which would be recovered till day end but sentiment would remain bearish until index would not succeed in closing above 44,200pts. Mean while index have resistant regions ahead at 43,550pts and penetration above this region would call for 43,860pts and 44,000pts. While on flip side it would try to find supports above 43,200pts and breakout below that region would call for 43,000pts and 42,860pts. Daily momentum indicators are changing their direction towards bearish side and daily closing below 43,000pts would confirm evening shooting star and trend reversal as well therefore it's recommended to post trailing stop loss on existing long positions and wait for closing below 43,000pts to initiate new short positions.

Asian shares slipped on Tuesday, extending a pullback from multi-year highs hit last week on renewed fears a highly infectious new strain of COVID-19 that shut down much of Britain could lead to a slower global economic recovery.Australian S&P/ASX 200 widened losses to be down 0.67%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.85%. MSCI’s gauge of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan fell 0.21%. China’s benchmark CSI300 Index and Hang Seng Index both opened down 0.2%. “An escalation of European COVID-19 restrictions in response to fears around a new variant, which is supposed to be faster spreading, should, and did, of course, elicit a negative reaction from prices via the near-term global growth impact,” said Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist at Axi.Read More...

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh on Monday noted the increase in prices of eggs and vegetable ghee and urged the provincial governments to strictly monitor their prices. He directed the Secretary Commerce to call a meeting with representatives of the provincial governments and FBR to take further steps in this regard. He chaired the meeting of the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC). The National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) reviewed the price trend of essential commodities. The Finance Secretary apprised NPMC that there has been a consistent decline in the weekly SPI over the last four weeks. SPI registered a decline of 0.22%, notably in essential food commodities namely wheat, tomatoes, onions, potatoes and chicken.Read More...

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Monday emphasised that the government is firmly committed to correcting the fundamentals of the economy through effective policy making and targeted reforms with the objective to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth in the long run. He made these remarks while addressing a webinar titled “Making Pakistan Prosper: Strategy for Economic Growth and Development” that was organised by the Institute of Policy Reforms. In his online remarks, the finance minister stated that the global economy is passing through an unprecedented crisis. According to the IMF, there will be 4.4% contraction in global economy due to COVID-19 pandemic. Resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan and worldwide has posed new challenges, he added.Read More...

A delegation from Afghanistan will visit Pakistan from December 28 to 30 to hold talks on the preferential trade agreement (PTA), Afgan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) and establishment of Joint Border Markets (JBMs). Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood held a consultative meeting at the Ministry of Commerce on Monday on matters relating to Pakistan’s trade with Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics (CARs). Abdul Razak Dawood briefed the session on his meetings with the leadership of Afghanistan during his visit to the country last month which preceded the visit of the Prime Minister to Kabul.Read More...

Pakistan on Monday entered into negotiations with 21 creditor countries for debt suspension amounting to $1.7 billion. The G20 countries, together with the Paris Club creditors, had announced a Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to provide much needed fiscal space to stressed countries in their fight against COVID-19. Taking advantage of this initiative, the government of Pakistan has entered into negotiations with 21 creditor countries for debt suspension amounting to $1.7 billion. The Government of Pakistan has successfully negotiated and concluded rescheduling agreements with 19 bilateral creditors, including members of the Paris Club. Debt rescheduling agreements were signed with France, Switzerland and China by the Economic Affair Division at Islamabad. Read More...