Morning Market Brief 8th Mar. 2021

Technical Overview

The Benchmark KSE100 index had bounced back after getting support from a daily double bottom at its 50% correction of its last bullish rally during last trading session and have formatted a piercing line formation on daily chart which is indication of a bullish pull back but its recommended to stay cautious and keep cheat patter formation in mind. A third consecutive hammer have been formatted on weekly chart and these formations are increasing uncertainty among investors who invest for short term bases. Meanwhile daily and weekly MACD have changed its direction towards bearish side which is negative element because if these indicators would not turn towards bullish side then price have to follow direction of this indicator on both time frames. As of now index is being capped by resistant trend line of its bearish price channel on hourly chart but it's expected that index would open with a positive gap above this line therefore a bullish spike could be witnessed initially which may lead index towards its initial resistant region at 46,180pts where previous gap would complete and index may face strong resistance in this region. For current trading session index may face initial resistance between 46,180pts-46,350pts where two strong horizontal resistant regions would try to cap bullish sentiment. While breakout above this region would call for 46,500pts and 46,700pts. While on flipside in case of rejection from its resistant regions index would try to establish ground above 45,530pts where a horizontal supportive region would try to pump in fresh volumes in market, but breakout below this region on daily chart would drag index towards 45,000pts and 44,800pts.

Regional Markets

Shares, dollar cheer U.S. stimulus, bonds downcast

Asian shares rallied on Monday while the dollar held near three-month peaks after the U.S. Senate passage of a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill augured well for a global economic rebound, though it also put fresh pressure on Treasuries.The prospect of yet faster growth helped MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan firm 0.5%. Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.9%, and Chinese blue chips 0.7%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%, after a sharp turnaround on Friday. EUROSTOXX 50 futures caught up with Wall Street by rising 1.2% and FTSE futures 1.3%. Equity investors took heart from U.S. data showing nonfarm payrolls surged by 379,000 jobs last month, while the jobless rate dipped to 6.2% in a positive sign for incomes, spending and corporate earnings. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tried to counter inflation concerns by noting the true unemployment rate was nearer 10% and there was still plenty of slack in the labour market.Read More...

Business News

Overstressed LNG chain is a safety hazard, says report

Pakistan’s liquefied natural gas terminals are overstressed and LNG value chain is very fragile from all parameters against global standards and could face operational and safety risks, contrary to common perception in public discourse that terminals are underutilised. “Even with the low ratios of ‘re-gas to storage’ and ‘LNG import capacity to storage’, the overall utilisation rate of LNG terminals across the globe is approximately 43 per cent. Pakistan’s utilisation is at a remarkable 84pc despite having extremely inflexible infrastructure and other constraints,” Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) and Pakistan LNG Terminal Limited (PLTL) said in a joint report to the government. “Operating Terminal-1 [of Engro Elengy] at nearing 100pc utilisation rate leaves very little flexibility to handle shocks,” the report said, adding that when compared with the global and European averages, “it is realised that Pakistan’s utilisation rates are 249pc and 196pc, respectively”.Read More...

China exports spike to highest in decades after COVID

China’s export growth jumped to the highest in over two decades, official data showed on Sunday, with imports also surging in a sharp bounce back from the coronavirus outbreak that had brought activity to a near halt. Electronics and textile exports such as masks contributed to the spike in outbound shipments, as demand for work-from-home supplies and protective gear against the virus outbreak soared during the pandemic. Exports spiked 60.6 percent on-year in the January-February period, well above analysts’ expectations, while imports rose 22.2 percent, official data showed on Sunday. The latest customs figures stand in stark contrast to last year’s fall of around 17 percent in exports and 4 percent drop in imports. The country struggled to contain the spread of COVID-19 early on, with consumers staying home and businesses seeing a slow return to operations.Read More...

Govt focusing on e-commerce to promote knowledge economy

Government was focusing on e-commerce to move forward towards digital Pakistan and promote knowledge economy through a Digital Pakistan Policy to facilitate growth of e-commerce. Member (IT) Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom, Syed Junaid Imam, addressing as Chief Guest at an e-commerce summit said this market has enormous potential in Pakistan due to exponential growth in broadband subscribers to over 95 million. The summit was organised by the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) in collaboration with Daraz Pakistan. Senator Mian Muhammad Ateeq Sheikh, Osman Nasir Managing Director (MD) Pakistan Software Export Board, Ehsan Saya MD DARAZ and many other dignitaries were present at the occasion. Over 400 participants including traders and university students attended the e-commerce summit. Daraz team registered a large number of sellers on its digital platform to enable them to start online sale of products. Read More...

PRGMEA asks Centre to allow import from India on zero-duty

The Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PRGMEA) on Sunday asked the government to allow import from India through Wagha border land route on zero-duty, exempting it from all types of taxes and duties, as import from Afghanistan and Central Asian States via Torkham land route would not end apparel industry’s raw material scarcity. “We appreciate PM Imran Khan for taking serious note of cotton shortage and its skyrocketing prices in the country, instructing the Ministry of Commerce to take necessary measures, including cross border trade of cotton yarn, to keep the momentum of value-added exports,” said PRGMEA Central Chairman Sohail A Sheikh in a statement. Sohail A Sheikh said that the apparel sector is in trouble because of cotton shortage and its high prices in local market, as the cotton rates found no respite from an unabated spike with the industrial input trading at season’s highest rates because its depressed local production continued to widen demand and supply gap.Read More...