KARACHI: The shares market remained range-bound in the outgoing week as investors held their horses ahead of the 2022-23 federal budget announcement on June 10.

The shares market closed the outgoing week on a slightly positive note on rising crude oil prices and the likely resumption of the International Monetary Fund loan programme in the near term. The KSE-100 index closed at 42,015 points, up 700 points or 1.7 per cent from a week ago.

According to JS Global, the key challenge for the capital markets appears to be the fiscal situation. Higher revenue collection will be a key theme in addition to containing the expense and subsidies going forward, it said.

The oil and gas sector was among key outperformers followed by cement and chemical sectors. The underperformers included the banking sector over the anticipated new taxes in the budget.

News reports that dictated market performance in the outgoing week were the 6pc decline of cement sales on a month-on-month basis owing to a slowdown in construction activities besides a 59pc year-on-year rise in textile exports in May.

Public debt climbed 12.9pc to Rs43.7 trillion in July-April while Roshan Digital Accounts inflows rose to $4.4 billion by the end of May versus $4.2bn a month ago. On the external front, the central bank’s reserves lost $497m to $9.2bn on a weekly basis. On the international front, crude oil hit its 13-week high and touched $120-plus per barrel amid anticipated higher demand from China.

Top gainers were Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (13pc), ICI Ltd (9pc), AGP Ltd (7.8pc), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd (7.5pc) and Lucky Cement (7.1pc).

Top losers were HBL Growth Fund (10.7pc), Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan Ltd (5.2pc), IGI Holdings Ltd (4.7pc), Pakistan Tobacco Ltd (4.5pc) and Cherat Cement Company Ltd (3.9pc).

Published in Dawn,June 12th, 2022