PSX Daily Market Review - 26th March 2019

Trading volume at PSX floor dropped by 28.17 million shares or 33.28% on DoD basis, whereas the benchmark KSE100 index opened at 38,520.35, posted a day high of 38,531.87 and a day low of 38,053.15 points during last trading session while session suspended at 38,128.66 with net change of -403.21 points and net trading volume of 36.49 million shares. Daily trading volume of KSE100 listed companies dropped by 17.72 million shares or 32.69% on DoD basis.
Foreign Investors remained in net selling positions of 10.89 million shares and net value of foreign inflow dropped by 9.63 US Dollars. Categorically, Foreign Corporate remained in net buying positions of 1.38 million shares but Overseas Pakistanis remained in net selling positions of 12.28 million shares. While on the other side Local Individuals, Banks and Brokers remained in net buying positions of 4.02, 0.06 and 25.14 million shares respectively but Local Companies, Mutual Fund and Insurance Companies remained in net selling positions of 15.98, 1.22 and 1.19 million shares respectively.

Asian shares shaky as U.S. bond yields hit lowest since late 2017
Asian shares were shaky on Tuesday after U.S. Treasury yields sank to their lowest since late 2017, further below short-term interest rates and adding to fears of a U.S. recession. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat in early trade after two days of losses. Japan’s Nikkei rebounded 1.1 percent after a 3.0 percent fall on Monday. Wall Street shares were little changed on Monday with the S&P 500 ending with a small loss of 0.08 percent. Investors have been spooked by sharp falls in U.S. bond yields and an inversion of the U.S. Treasury yield curve, which is widely seen as an indicator of an economic recession. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield dropped to 2.405 percent, having shed 5 basis points on Monday.
Weaving city to be set up in Faisalabad: Minister
A delegation of small industries chambers headed by Mian Mazhar Iqbal called on Minister for Commerce and Trade Mian Aslam Iqbal at Civil Secretariat on Monday. Secretary Industries and other relevant officers were also present. Promotion of small and medium enterprises, revival of power looms and cottage industry and problems faced by SME Chambers were discussed during the meeting. Mian Aslam Iqbal said that weaving city would be set up on 100 acres of land in Faisalabad. Looms would be shifted to this weaving city, he said, adding, power looms would be revived as they provide jobs to thousands of people. He directed preparing master plan of the project within 15 days. He also directed preparing financial modal and development plan of the project.
Pakistan eyes package as IMF mission chief arrives today
As the arrival of $2.1 billion Chinese loans jacked up Pakistan’s total foreign exchange reserves to $17.58bn — highest since April 2018 — the government is expecting finalisation of a bailout package with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in four-six weeks to form the basis for next year budget. IMF’s new mission chief for Pakistan Ernesto Ramirez Rigo is set to touch base with Finance Minister Asad Umar and senior officials of his ministry on Tuesday over authorities’ preparedness to enter into a three-year programme. Assisted by IMF’s country representative Maria Teresa Daban, Mr Rigo will also visit Karachi the following day for interactions at the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Pakistan could come down below 100 in EDB ranking
The Board of Investment (BoI) was optimistic that Pakistan’s ranking in Ease of Doing Business would show considerable improvements and come down below 100 when the World Bank releases its next rankings during May this year. “Currently the BoI has been working on evaluating the performance of ease of doing business in two main cities of the country including Karachi and Lahore, and reports pertaining to it would be presented in cabinet for discussion and finally submitted to the World Bank(WB) for approval,” senior official of BoI told APP here on Monday. The official said that the government wants to achieve the ambitious target in ‘ease of doing business’ ranking to bring the country from the place of 136 to under than 100 in coming year, which in return would enhance the foreign and local investments and promote economic growth.
Govt releases Rs373.8b for development projects
The federal government has released Rs 373.88 billion for various ongoing and new schemes against the total allocation of Rs 675 billion under its Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2018-19. The released funds include Rs 153.632 billion for federal ministries, Rs 169.835 billion for corporations, and Rs 30.286 billion for special areas, according to latest data released by Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform. Out of these allocations, the government released Rs 157.941 billion for National Highway Authority (NHA) out of its total allocation of Rs 185.197 billion, whereas Rs 11.894 billion have been released for NTDC and PEPCO for which an amount of Rs 33.365 billion was allocated under PSDP 2018-19.

The Benchmark KSE100 index had not succeeded in penetration above a resistant trend line during last trading session but slide below its horizontal supportive region of 38,500 points. As of now index have supportive regions ahead at 37,750 and 37,380 points while on flip side resistant regions are standing at 38,560 and 39,000 points. It’s expected that if index would succeed in sliding below 37,750 points then a sharp bearish rally would be witnessed in coming days which would amend previous low of index and it would slide towards 36,500 initially and then 35,800 points. For current trading session it’s recommended to stay cautious and adopt swing trading strategy between 37,750 and 38,500 points.