Friday, September 20 2019

Stocks gain 628 points to storm past 32,000 level
KARACHI: After an early morning inertia that saw the KSE-100 index slip by 81 points, the bulls were back with a vengeance to start afresh their northbound journey. Investors began buying across the sectors but mainly in banks, fertiliser, exploration and production, which saw the index storm past 32,000 levels after 53 sessions to post massive gains of 628.56 points (1.99 per cent) and settle at 32,184.03. Intra-day, the index touched a high of 680 points. Almost all the traders and analysts attributed the rejuvenation of investors’ interest to the central bank’s Pakistan Investment Bond auction results on Wednesday in which cutoff yield were down in range of 90-130 basis points, enabling investors to take a view on interest rates going forward.
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Pakistan's foreign reserves rise to $15.9bn: SBP
The country's total liquid foreign reserves stood at $15.898 billion on September 13, a press release issued by the State Bank of Pakistan on Thursday said. The central bank's reserves witnessed an increase of $138 million to reach $8.6bn during the week ending September 13, the handout added. According to a breakup of the foreign reserves position provided by SBP: Foreign reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan — $8.6bn Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks — $7.3bn Total liquid foreign reserves — $15.9bn The central bank also reported that the dollar shed 2 paisas in interbank trade and was traded at Rs156.23 as compared to the last closing at Rs156.25.
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Current account deficit declines by 55pc in first 2 months of FY2020
The current account deficit (CAD) shrank by a massive 55 per cent in the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period last year, reported the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday. The CAD — for the two month period — reduced by $1.56bn to $1.29 billion from $2.85bn during the same period last year. This was in line with the downward trend witnessed throughout 2018-19 when the deficit stood lower by 31pc to $13.58bn, from $19.8bn in FY18 — recording a decrease of $6.3bn. This must be a relief for the government which has been struggling to plug the deficit through borrowing from donor agencies, commercial banks and friendly countries. The major cause of the shrink is the decline in the trade deficit. According to the trade summary issued by the commerce ministry for the two months, exports jumped to $3.738bn as compared to $3.650bn during the same period last year — showing a increase of 2.41pc or $88 million.
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Bike sales skid as economic slowdown bites
KARACHI: Bike sales showed contrasting trend as some assemblers, after enjoying a good FY19, faced precarious sales during the first two months of FY20 while for many manufacturers the current fiscal year is almost as volatile as the preceding one. The country’s total bike production fell by 13 per cent to 2.459 million units in FY19 from 2.825mn units in FY18, showed Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data. Amid claims of achieving 94pc localisation in 70cc segment and over 50pc in higher engine power, the assemblers had given multiple price shocks to the consumers in the last one and half years blaming high cost of imported parts and raw material on falling rupee value against the dollar to Rs158 from Rs123 in August 2018 and Rs110 in January 2018.
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Indus Motor shuts down plant
KARACHI: Indus Motor Company (IMC), the maker of Toyota vehicles, has decided to shut down all production for the remaining days of September, bringing the total number of “non-production days” (NPDs) to 15 in the month due to continuing fall in demand. An IMC official, who asked not be named, said the company had already observed eight NPDs in July and 11-12 NPD in August. He said the federal excise duty (FED) of 2.5-7.5 per cent on various engine capacity cars, sky rocketing prices on account of rupee-dollar parity coupled with additional customs duty on imported parts and raw material and high interest rates had priced most of their vehicles out of the market. For September, “half of the current month is off,” the official said.
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