Morning Market Brief 4th Mar. 2021

The Nasdaq ended sharply lower on Wednesday after investors sold high-flying technology shares and pivoted to sectors viewed as more likely to benefit from an economic recovery on the back of fiscal stimulus and vaccination programs.Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc dropped more than 2%, weighing more than any other stocks on the S&P 500. The S&P 500 financial and industrial sector indexes reached intra-day record highs. Most other S&P 500 sectors declined. “Today is the perfect encapsulation of the big theme we’ve been seeing in the past couple of months: The vaccine rollout is going well and the economy improving, and that is sending yields and rate expectations higher, which is hurting growth stocks,” said Baird investment strategist Ross Mayfield, in Louisville, Kentucky.Read More...

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority was Wednesday informed by the government that agreements with 30 out of 47 IPPs have been signed as the regulator conducted public hearing on revised tariff for the IPPs. The public hearing, presided over by Chairman NEPRA Tauseef H Farooqi, was informed by Waseem Mukhtar, the Chief Executive Officer of the Central Power Purchasing Agency (Guarantee) Limited, that negotiations for the final agreements with the remaining 17 IPPs, with whom MoUs have been signed, are in the process. The power regulator has questioned the determination of indexation in agreements signed with independent power producers (IPPs). The CPPA has submitted an application with NEPRA for adjustment in components of tariff pursuant to agreements entered between power purchaser and independent power producers (IPPs).The NEPRA has conducted separate hearing for 12 thermal, three wind, solar and baggase IPPs.Read More...

The fiscal consolidation measures taken by the government have resulted in financial discipline, higher revenues and controlled expenditures, according to Mid-Year Budget Review Report for the fiscal year 2020-21. “The same strategy will be followed during the remaining period of the CFY (current financial year) to achieve the fiscal sustainability,” the report published by the finance ministry said. According to the report, the continuity in fiscal consolidation, stable exchange rate, improved current account and better financial management, presents a promising economic outlook. However, there are certain risks to fiscal sustainability, it said, adding that going forward the fiscal position would depend on the domestic and international evolution of Covid-19. On the other hand faster than anticipated economic revival was likely to increase demand for inputs.Read More...

High Commissioner of Sri Lanka Vice Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama on Wednesday hoped that recent visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan would help give a quantum jump to the bilateral trade. He was speaking at a meeting at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. LCCI Vice President Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry, former Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa and Executive Committee members were also present. Sri Lankan High Commissioner said that a number of MoUs have been signed during the Pakistani Prime Minister’s visit to Sri Lanka that would pave way to boost the mutual trade and cement the economic ties. He said that both countries have historical social, political and trade relations but mutual trade does not reflect potential of the two countries. He said that joint ventures between the private sectors of the two countries would be welcomed. He said that both countries should avail full benefit from the Free Trade Agreement between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. He said that Pakistan should increase import of best quality Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka. Read More...

The Board of Directors of Shell Pakistan Limited (SPL) has announced financial results for the year ended December 31st, 2020.The company posted a loss after tax of PKR 4,821 million for 2020 compared to the loss of PKR1,485 million in 2019. The second half of 2020 saw significant recovery with a profit after tax in comparison to a very tough first half of the year primarily affected by the global pandemic resulting in declining fuels market and volatility in the international oil prices. Shell Pakistan recognises the governments initiative to switch the frequency of petroleum pricing of the country from monthly to fortnightly; and basing the same on the Arab Gulf Mean oil prices published in PlattsOilgram. This ensures fair competition and alignment of fuel prices with international pricing trends, smoothing out any volatility caused by the legacy pricing mechanism. In addition, the government upgraded the fuel grade to Euro-V standards from Euro-II standards which was introduced in 2016-17. This will pave way for cleaner air quality in Pakistan as a result of lower motor vehicle emissions.Read More...