Morning Market Brief 2nd Oct. 2020

The Benchmark KSE100 index have penetrated its bullish price channel in downward direction but could not succeed in giving a breakout of that channel because a pullback was witnessed before day end and index again closed inside that channel. As of now it’s expected that index would try to start a bullish rally initially in first half which may last till 40,900pts or 41,000pts but later on it would face some serious pressure from strong resistant regions standing at 41,000pts and 41,200pts. Meanwhile if index would not succeed in closing above 41,000pts then confirmation of previous weekly evening shooting star would take place which would push index downward in coming days. For current trading session swing trading could be beneficial between 41,000pts till 40,200pts with strict stop loss on both sides. Daily momentum indicators are still on bearish side and if index would succeed in closing below 41,500pts or 41,300pts till day end today then weekly momentum would also start losing strength which would push index for a corrective rally in next week. While on the other side index would remain under pressure until it would not succeed in closing above 41,500pts on daily chart.

Asian markets were little changed on Friday, as a U.S. stimulus deal remained out of reach and investors waited on fresh U.S. employment data for a read on the economic toll from the coronavirus pandemic.Japan's Nikkei 225 index .N225 was up 0.35% after the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) resumed normal trading after its worst-ever outage brought the world's third-largest equity market to a standstill. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.1%, while Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO slipped 0.7%. In the United States, an additional economic stimulus package remained elusive despite renewed efforts from Washington negotiators.Read More...

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has extended the date of filing of Income Tax Returns/Statements for the tax year 2020 up to December 8. According to circular issued by the board here, the individuals and association of persons, who failed to file their income tax returns/statements of final taxation for the tax year 2020 before September 30, have been allowed to file their returns by December 8, 2020. The companies who were required to file returns of total income/statements of final taxation for the Tax Year 2020, which were due on September 30, but failed to file their income tax returns/statements, were also allowed to file their return by December 8. Read More...

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Thursday has approved development projects mainly related to roads infrastructure worth of Rs429.77 billion. The ECNEC chaired by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has approved the “Simplification of Planning Commission/ Planning Division Development Processes/ Procedure to improve Project Management” (Guidelines). According to the new procedures there are reforms in the following six areas: a) Project Identification and Preparation of PC I, b) processing and approval of PC I, c) Project Management and Staffing, d) Opening of Project Assignment Account, e) Procedure for release of funds, f) Monitoring and Evaluation.Read More...

USAID has disbursed $3.4 billion to Pakistan under Pakistan Enhanced Partnership Agreement in last ten years. Pakistan and USA signed “Pakistan Enhanced Partnership Agreement (PEPA)” on September 30, 2010. The volume of committed economic assistance under PEPA is USD 4.275 billion and out of this, USAID has disbursed USD 3.4 billion to Pakistan. The total number of ongoing projects are 65, encompassing socio-economic sectors like education, health, energy, agriculture, infrastructure/reconstruction, democracy & governance, economic growth and resilience. This was discussed in tripartite wrap-up meeting on Portfolio Review of USAID Projects in Pakistan at Ministry of Economic Affairs. Read More...

Thar coal based 330MW power generation project under the banner of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) programme Thursday achieved financial close. Financial closing documents for the 330MW mine mouth lignite coal power project at Thar Block-II were signed by Shah Jahan Mirza, Managing Director PPIB, and Saleemullah Memon, Chief Executive Officer of M/s Thal Limited, while senior officials of PPIB and the company witnessed the signing ceremony. The project is being sponsored by M/s Thal Limited, M/s Novatex Limited and M/s Descon Engineering Limited under the banner of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) programme.Read More...