Karachi, May 19, 2023 (PPI-OT): Bears win over bulls, closing the week at flat returns

After a positive start, the KSE100 Index succumbed to bears in the second half of the week where the initial gains were wiped out in the later days with developments on the political and the macro landscape. The benchmark index, as a result, closed the week at 41,599, (+0.3% WoW). With slight decline in trading volumes as compared to last week, value traded remained similar to previous week's levels. Investor wise trading activity showed Individuals and Companies absorbing the net selling reported by Insurance companies and Mutual Funds segments. Federal Budget for the year FY24 related news began this week with reported governments macro targets.

Federal government targets fiscal deficit at 5% of GDP for FY24, with a revenue target of Rs9trn. On IMF front, stance regarding continued talks were maintained by government and IMF officials, both. On global trade, development over Pakistan and Iran took place as Prime Minister of Pakistan and President of Iran signed agreement regarding open border projects. The auction held this week was for shorter tenor papers where the government accepted bids worth Rs444bn, broadly in the 3M tenor, at flat rates compared to previous auction's cut offs.