PSX Daily Market Review - 03 March 2017

The Bench Mark KSE100 Index Opened at 49259.67 with a positive gap of 209 points, posted a day high of 49729.99 and a day low of 49259.67 during last trading session whereas session suspended at 49696.08 with a net change of 703.92 points and net trading volume of 148.29 million shares. daily trading volume of KSE100 listed companies increased by 52.53 million shares or 54.86% on DoD basis.

Asian shares rose on Thursday as investors were encouraged by President Donald Trump measured tone in his first speech to Congress, which sent Wall Street stocks sharply higher, while growing bets on a U.S. rate hike this month buoyed the dollar. MSCI broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.2 percent, led by rebound in Australian shares . Japanese Nikkei .N225 rose 1.3 percent to a 14-month high. MSCI broadest gauge of the world stocks covering 46 countries .MIWD00000PUS rose nearly 1 percent to a record high, after posting its biggest daily gain in almost three months. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI blasted through the 21,000-point mark for the first time. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 .SPX rallied around 1.4 percent.
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Thursday showed concern over the widening of current account deficit, which sharply widened to $4.72 billion in the first seven months of the current fiscal year. The current account deficit had widened by 90.23 percent to $4.72 billion during July-January of the ongoing financial year 2016-17 as against $2.48 billion of a year ago. The deficit had increased due to higher trade gap and slowdown in workers remittance inflows and foreign investment. Rising global oil prices, dried foreign inflows and lower exports are building pressure on the current account position. The ECC meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, has urged to increase exports of goods and services to bridge the gap. In consideration of the proposal submitted by the Privatization Division, the ECC also approved one month (November 2016) salary to the tune of Rs380 million for the employees of Pakistan Steel Mills, Karachi.
The LPG Association of Pakistan (LPGAP) has rejected the pricing formula of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), urging Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to take notice of the problems facing the LPG industry and withdraw the Ogra notification. Ogra has issued three letters in last 20-days regarding price fixation that does not comply with the needs of the LPG industry and is bound to hit this important sector very hard. LPG producers have been directed to fix price at Rs45,276 per MT which will cause cash loss to the marketing companies,” they association representatives said. The demand was raised at a meeting presided over by LPGAP Chairman Farooq Iftikhar on Thursday. During the meeting, the representatives said that the price capping of LPG will discourage imports which will lead to product shortage and thus black marketing of LPG.
The continuous increase in petroleum products prices pushed the monthly inflation to 4.22 percent in February, which is the highest in last few months. Inflation measured through consumer price index (CPI) has gone up by 4.22 percent during February, according to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Inflation has recorded increase due to the continuous hike in oil prices during last three months. The government had enhanced the petrol price by Rs9 per liter in last three months, taking from Rs64.2 per liter in November to Rs73 per liter in March. Similarly, the price of high speed diesel has been increased to Rs82 per liter from Rs72.52 per liter of November last year. Meanwhile, inflation has gone up by 3.9 percent during first eight months (July-February) of the ongoing financial year over a year ago. The government had so far restricted the inflation below the target of six percent, which was set for the current fiscal year 2016-17.
The Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB) must adopt a proactive approach and take all necessary steps for the welfare of tobacco farmers, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan said on Thursday. He said that Tobacco Cess Refund Rules were framed to support tobacco exporters. He made these remarks at an MoU signing ceremony among the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB), Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC) and Philip Morris Pakistan Limited (PMPKL) for Barn Modification to make tobacco curing process more efficient.

ATRL ,NML , PNSC and NBP can lead the market in the positive direction.

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