PSX Daily Market Review - 11th March 2020

Trading volume at PSX floor dropped by 33.48 million shares or 10.87% on DoD basis, whereas the benchmark KSE100 index opened at 36,913.69, posted a day high of 37,734.75 and a day low of 36,913.69 points during last trading session while session suspended at 37,695.75 points with net change of 636.80 points and net trading volume of 225.94 million shares. Daily trading volume of KSE100 listed companies also dropped by 25.72 million shares or 10.22% on DoD basis.
Foreign Investors remained in net selling positions of 9.33 million shares but value of Foreign Inflow dropped by -5.08 million US Dollars. Categorically, Overseas Pakistani remained in net long positions of 2.27 million shares but Foreign Individuals and Corporate remained in net selling positions of 0.90 and 10.70 million shares respectively. While on the other side Local Individuals, Companies, NBFCs, Brokers and Insurance Companies remained in net long positions of 6.19, 5.35, 0.04, 1.84 and 1.84 million shares but Banks and Mutual Fund remained in net selling positions of 2.92 and 5.17 million shares respectively.

Stocks fall as U.S. virus response disappoints investors
Asian shares and Wall Street futures fell on Wednesday as growing scepticism about Washington’s stimulus package to fight the coronavirus outbreak knocked the steam out of an earlier rally. Markets had been recovering from a brutal global selloff on Monday that was triggered by the double shock of an oil price crash and the worsening outbreak. Those gains looked short-lived in early Asian trade, with U.S. stock futures falling 2.2% and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.29%. Australian shares were down 2.02%, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index slid 1.28%. Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would take “major steps” to ease economic strains caused by the spread of the flu-like virus. Headlines focused on discussions of payroll tax cut, which helped lift market sentiment. However, the lack of major announcements since then has left some investors unimpressed.
Future lies in export-led growth strategy: PM’s aide
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce, Industry and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood said on Tuesday that the government’s export-led growth strategy had started bearing fruit as Pakistan had posted a 13.6 per cent growth in exports at a time when regional competitors were witnessing a decline. Speaking at the “Dialogue on Industrial Cooperation under CPEC and SEZs Framework — on CPEC Phase II” organised by the Board of Investment (BoI), Mr Dawood elaborated on the framework of economic development strategy and stated that Pakistan’s future lay in export-led growth, which made the development of special economic zones (SEZs) vital to improve the capacity and complement the export requirements of the country. Pakistan’s economy faced a lot of challenges in terms of fiscal and current account deficits and required serious steps in terms of devaluation, control on imports and government expenditures, he said.
Distribution companies ask for Rs2 per unit increase in power rates
Despite repea­ted pronouncements by PM Imran Khan to have frozen energy prices until June, power companies working under the Power Division have sought up to Rs2 per unit increase in electricity rates for three months under monthly fuel price adjustments. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has fixed three separate petitions filed by the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) on behalf of 10 ex-Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) distribution companies for public hearing on Mar 25. A CPPA official, when contacted, said a meeting at the Power Division had directed the agency to follow standard operating procedures to fulfil legal and regulatory requirements of filing petitions to Nepra for tariff adjustment until PM’s directives were materialised through formal decision making forums for implementation.
Remittances jump 5.4pc
Remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis came in at $15.127 billion during the first eight months of this fiscal year, rising by 5.37 per cent, compared to $14.356bn in corresponding period of 2018-19, reported the State Bank of Pakistan on Tuesday. While the inflows continued to move up year-on-year in 8MFY20, the rate of increase slowed down as against 10.44pc in same period of FY19. During February, remittances jumped 16.47pc year-on-year to $1.824bn compared to $1.581bn in same period of 2019 while declining by 4.35pc month-on-month over $1.901bn in the outgoing Janaury. This corresponded to an average monthly inflow of $1.891bn, up from the mean value of $1.82bn the year before.
ECC to consider summary for increasing MSP of wheat crop today
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet will today (Wednesday) consider summary for increasing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat crop by around 2.56 percent for 2019-20. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet in its meeting will also consider summary of the petroleum division for ease of doing business in upstream petroleum Sector, said agenda of the ECC meeting available with The Nation. The ECC will meet here with adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Abdul Hafeez Shaikh will ponder over a four point agenda including a summary of the Information Technology and Telecommunication regarding National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) budget-revised estimates 2018-19 and budget estimates 2019-20.Summary for the approval for SAR 22.5 million equity investment abroad by Eastern Products Pvt(Ltd), Pakistan is also on the agenda of the meeting.