Friday, April 26 2024

Stocks falter on institutional profit-taking
After scaling a historic peak the previous day, the stock market on Thursday came under selling pressure as investors indulged in profit-taking, dragging the index below the 72,000 level. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said institutional profit-taking in selected overbought scrips and adjustments in the earning season stalled the overnight rally. He added that the weak rupee and structural reforms for the new IMF programme are likely to withdraw subsidies in the energy, fertiliser, and gas sectors, and expectations over the status quo in the SBP policy announcement next week depressed market sentiments. According to Topline Securities Ltd, sectors such as oil and gas exploration, auto, banking, cement, and fertiliser contributed to the index’s decline, with companies like Millat Tractors Ltd, Pakistan Oilfield Ltd, Lucky Cement, Faysal Bank Ltd, and Engro Corporation wiped out 206 points.
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Faysal bank earns Rs6.5bn
Faysal Bank Ltd (FBL) continued its growth stride during the first quarter of 2024, with a profit after tax doubled to Rs6.5 billion compared to Q12023. Earnings per share increased from Rs2.12 to Rs4.29, while the bank also declared an interim cash dividend of Re1 per share.
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Related symbols: fabl (news stock)

Wednesday, April 24 2024

Stocks turn in depressed performance
After scaling an all-time high overnight, the benchmark KSE 100 index faltered despite a positive start on Tuesday amid reports of oil refining units shutting down and Shanghai Electric Power’s withdrawal of an offer to buy K-Electric. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation attributed the depressed market performance to the expectations of prudent SBP monetary policy announce­ment next week ahead of new IMF loan talks and strong opposition to the petroleum price deregulation model by the refineries which have started closing down their units amid storage constraints and weak sales due to rampant smuggling. He said there was uncertainty over Pakis­tan-US relations following the signing of trade pacts with Iran to increase bilateral annual trade volume to $10 billion over the next five years, dampening investor sentiments. Topline Securities Ltd said equities began the day on a positive note, with across-the-board buying in cyclical stocks, especially in the cement sector, in the backdrop of the current surplus of $619m and anticipation of inflation clocking in at 17-18pc for April.
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ARL cuts output to 33% as smuggling bites
Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) has become the first victim of smuggled petroleum products as the refinery on Monday shut down its main distillation unit, reducing its capacity to only 33%, owing to the piling up of unsold diesel stocks. Oil industry sources warned that other refineries were also likely to close their units if the unbridled smuggling of petroleum products was not stopped. Oil smuggling into Pakistan has continued unabated and this oil is now available across the country. Industry officials said that smuggling and proposals of price deregulation without consultation with all stakeholders may put plant upgrade plans of refineries in jeopardy. For upgrading, they were expected to bring investments of $5-6 billion on the back of recent approval of a new policy.
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Related symbols: atrl (news stock)

Fauji, Fatima raise urea prices
The increa­se in the rates of urea compost products by a couple of companies running their plants on subsidised gas has raised many eyebrows. Fatima Fertiliser Company Ltd (FFCL) on Tuesday raised the price of its brand Sarsabz urea by Rs551 per bag, taking the maximum retail price to Rs4,400. On April 9, Fauji Fertiliser Company Ltd (FFC) increased its urea prices by Rs633 per bag to Rs4,400. This increase of around 17 per cent has been made even though the gas input cost has remained unchanged. FFC and FFCL are still receiving gas from the Mari network at a subsidised price of Rs580 per mmBtu compared to other manufacturers on the SSGC and SNGPL networks, which faced a tariff hike to Rs1,597 per mmBtu in February. As a result, price discrimination for the same homogeneous product (gas) has been created in the fertiliser industry.
Related news categories: business chemical economic-indicators fertilizers psx stock-exchanges
Related symbols: fatima (news stock) ffc (news stock)