Staff Reporter Karachi
After shedding 362 points (-0.8 percent) during the last week amid the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary session, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is likely to remain in green this week as clouds of FATF-led uncertainty have dispersed.
Moreover, a ceasefire at the Line of Control (LOC) agreed upon between the director generals military operations (DGsMO) of Pakistan and India may further boost investors’ sentiments.
Again falling gold prices, stability of Pakistani rupee against the US dollar and increasing prices of crude futures may keep the market green this week.
Gold price in the international market plunged and it was closed at $1,735.60 an ounce on Friday last after shedding $35.50 an ounce in its value as compared to its value on Thursday last.
International ratings agency Fitch has predicted the price of gold will fall to $1,600 per ounce this year and slide further down to $1,400 in 2022 “on increased demand due to investment flows and central bank purchases.”
Pakistan rupee was appreciated by Re1 against the US dollar during the week. The local currency made gains against the greenback during the all five days.
On the other hand, oil prices are trading at 14-month high as the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures was closed at $61.50 a barrel, Brent at $64.42, the price for Opec Basket was recorded at $65.42, and closing price of Arab Light remained $65.14.
According to the latest outlook by Morgan Stanley, prices for Brent crude will reach $70 per barrel in the third quarter on “signs of a much improved market.”
At the same time, Goldman Sachs Commodities Research says that prices will climb to $70 per barrel in the second quarter from the $60 it previously predicted, and $75 in the third quarter from $65 earlier.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at 45,865.02 points last week against its closure at 46,227.65 points on the preceding week. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index closed at 31,436.15 points against its closure at 31,851.18 points on a week-on-week (WoW) basis.
Likewise, the All Share Islamic Index closed at 22,806.72 points against 23,041.25 points on a WoW basis.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market to remain positive in the upcoming weeks as clouds of FATF-led uncertainty have dispersed and with only 3 action plans to be addressed, the likelihood of Pakistan exiting the grey list in June 2021 are very bright.
