FLASHNEWS:

JS Securities Limited – Weekly Review (January 06, 2023)

Karachi, January 06, 2023 (PPI-OT): KSE-100 continues positive momentum, gains 1.5% WoW

Carrying last week’s momentum, KSE100 Index closed at 41,007, up 1.5% WoW. Investor participation however witnessed a decline of 18% WoW. Key performing sectors this week were Refinery (8.9%%) and E and P (4.3%). Refinery sector remained in the limelight over the possibility of any positive news regarding the pending refinery policy. On the news front, December’s headline inflation came in at 24.5%, taking 1HFY23 CPI to 25.03% where food inflation dropped sequentially, despite higher SPI readings. Moreover, as per PBS data, country’s trade deficit for 1HFY23 decreased by 32.65% YoY to US$17.1bn. Trade deficit came in at an 8 quarter low over sharp drop in imports owing to administrative controls.

SBP reserves, published this week, reported a drop once again, falling to its lowest level since Apr-2014 at US$5.3bn. On the auction front, govt raised Rs655bn through the T-Bills auction during the week, where yield on the short-duration paper stayed flat. According to APCMA, cement dispatches remained dull during Dec-2022, clocking in at 3.9mn tons down by 16%/3% YoY/MoM, respectively. Cumulative dispatches for 1HFY23 came in at 21.8mn tons, depicting a 21% YoY decline. In other news, RDA inflows for December clocked in at US$140mn, lowest since Dec-2020.