Karachi, July 30, 2021 (PPI-OT): View from the desk

The KSE100 started the last day of the roll over week on a bullish note and touched a high of 46,925. However, investors lost confidence during the second half after news of implementation of a strict lockdown in Karachi came to light. The equity market eventually closed at a level of 47,055, posting a loss of 257 points. Major contribution to today’s total volume of 399 million came in from WTL (1.2%), BYCO (-2.2%), TELE (3.0%), HUMNL (-2.7%), TPL (0%) and PIBTL (0%). AGP (-2.0%) released material information stating that the company has acquired 22 pharmaceutical brands from Sandoz AG, an international brand.

The acquisition is expected to result in significant increase in the consolidated revenues of AGP. Pressure was witnessed in the cement sector, where LUCK (-1.0%), POWER (-1.1%), MLCF (-0.9%) and DGKC (-1.2%) lost value to close in the red zone. Going forward, in light of Covid concerns, we recommend investors to adopt a buy on dips strategy in the Banking, Textile and Fertilizer sectors.