Business
Stocks rise on selective buying as investor caution lingers | The Express Tribune
Following Tuesday’s sharp decline, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a mild rebound on Wednesday. The KSE-100 index advanced by 313.44 points, or 0.20%, closing the session at 158,183.95.
The benchmark index moved between an intra-day high of 159,516.41 and a low of 157,203.55 as investors remained wary amid ongoing political and security developments.
Although the market managed to regain some lost ground, overall confidence remained fragile. Trading was largely driven by selective buying, with participants hesitant to take aggressive positions until greater stability emerges on the evolving domestic political landscape and security developments that continue to influence market direction.
KTrade Securities wrote in its market wrap that PSX saw a mixed session following yesterday’s fallout as the KSE-100 index edged up 313 points, or +0.20% day-on-day, to close at 158,183 points. The fertiliser sector took centre stage, Fauji Fertiliser in particular stood out, single-handedly driving most of the day’s gains, while the broader market remained largely subdued.
Market participation stayed lacklustre. Looking ahead, investor sentiment is likely to remain sensitive to law-and-order developments, political clarity surrounding the 27th Constitutional Amendment, and the anticipated IMF tranche release.
Besides, broader regional geopolitical currents will also play a decisive role in shaping near-term market direction, KTrade anticipated.
Arif Habib Limited (AHL) observed that intra-day gains failed to hold, with supply still heavy and not allowing the KSE-100 to regain a 160k handle.
Some 44 shares rose while 54 fell, with Fauji Fertiliser (+3.6%), Pakistan Services (+6.8%), and Pakistan Petroleum (+1.61%) contributing the most to index gains.
On the flip side, Lucky Cement (-1.46%), Habib Bank (-1.29%), and Systems Limited (-1.54%) were the biggest index drags, it said.
In major news, Pakistan plans to raise funds through dollar bonds next year after nearly five years, marking a turning point for a country that came close to default two years ago.
The weak recovery keeps the KSE-100 exposed to increased downside risk while below 161k, and declines now through 157k can open up a fresh leg to the downside.
Regional news flow will again take centre stage over the coming weeks, AHL predicted.
Overall trading volume decreased to 757.2 million shares from Tuesday’s tally of 836.4 million. The value of trade stood at Rs33.4 billion.
Shares of 480 companies were traded. Of these, 188 stocks closed higher, 235 fell, and 57 remained unchanged. First National Equities topped the chart with trading in 89.4 million shares, losing Rs1.95 to close at Rs20.66.
Michael Race & Sean FarringtonBusiness reporter & business presenter
Chris O’Shea hasn’t lived in Scotland for decades but the boss of Centrica, the owner of British Gas, is worried over the future of the energy industry in his homeland.
He is concerned that the “demise” of drilling for gas and oil in the North Sea and the move to green energy will not create new roles quickly enough to offset job losses.
His wide-ranging interview with us follows a series of difficult moments for the industry as soaring energy prices pushed household bills up and saw bumper dividends to shareholders and pay packets to bosses – including him. British Gas also faced a scandal over force-fitting prepayment meters in the homes of vulnerable people who fell behind on bills, something he says the company doesn’t do anymore.
Today O’Shea says his big concern is the decline in jobs in the North Sea oil and gas industry. The UK’s largest oil and gas producer, Harbour Energy, announced job cuts earlier this year. And this month, the Port of Aberdeen said it would cut roles in the face of what it described as a “staggering” fall in North Sea oil and gas activity.
“The energy transition is the right thing for us to do. It’s essential,” says O’Shea, pointing out that British Gas no longer explores for oil and gas in the North Sea and benefits more from energy being imported from overseas.
That’s not to say he doesn’t think there should be more drilling in the North Sea.
“Whether you look at this from a cost point of view or whether you look at this from a carbon point of view or environmental point of view, the gas that you produce domestically will often be cheaper than the gas you import, and it will definitely be cleaner than the gas you import,” he says.
But going back to the transition to green energy, he tells the BBC’s Big Boss Interview that the question is over the pace at which it needs to happen, drawing on personal experience.
“I grew up in the town of Fife, which was surrounded by coal mines. I saw the devastation when the coal mines were closed during the miners’ strike and people that had incredibly well-paid jobs – they went to no work at all.
“You’ve got second, third-generation people that are not in work now. And I desperately want to avoid that through this transition.”
He says he found it quite hard to get a job after university and “got loads of rejection letters”.
“I know what it’s like to be a bit worried about getting a job,” he says.
“I also know what it’s like to get a job that you like, and you find out that you’re good at, it can change your life – it certainly did for me.”
However, the chief executive is no stranger to cutting roles, having axed the best part of 5,000 soon after he took charge during the height of the Covid pandemic in April 2020.
“I wasn’t sure the company was actually going to survive,” he says. “The only way I could justify that to myself was I was trying to protect 20,000 jobs, I couldn’t protect them all.”
Since then, Centrica has taken on 1,700 apprentices and has committed to taking on one more every day for this decade at least.
Much like energy prices in recent years, it’s been a volatile time in the hotseat for O’Shea.
As wholesale energy prices soared in part due to supply issues following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, many small suppliers went bust as they were unable to afford the fixed-price deals they’d locked into with customers.
“It’s all down to poor regulation,” O’Shea says, arguing that energy regulator Ofgem should have been stricter on making sure suppliers had enough cash to manage risks.
“You cannot have a system whereby the profits are privatised and the losses are socialised,” he says.
Ofgem told the BBC its regulation meant the sector “now holds around £7.5bn in assets, a significant reverse from -£1.7bn during the crisis, meaning they are now better protected against failure, and the impact this has on customer’s bills”.
As energy bills surged, there were questions over bumper dividends to shareholders, and O’Shea’s own salary and bonuses which hit £8.2m in 2023.
“Investors invest and they want a return,” he says. “People don’t put money in the bank and say, ‘it’s ok, don’t give me any interest’ and investors don’t buy shares and say, ‘it’s ok, don’t give me any return’.”
Those dividends, O’Shea argues, are not generated from British Gas customers, and are as a result of other parts of Centrica’s diversified business.
“There is very little profit that’s made in the energy retail business. You’re capped on the profit that you can make at 2.4% of your revenue,” he says.
The 52-year-old faced a huge public backlash after it emerged that debt agents working for British Gas were breaking into people’s homes to fit prepayment meters.
“We are not doing that at the moment,” he says when asked if this has resumed.
But he argues the regulator Ofgem needs to tell firms how to act when people don’t pay and how to find out who cannot pay and who refuses to.
“My heart goes out to those people who can’t pay, but those people who choose not to pay are freeloaders and we have to find a way to differentiate and go after the people who choose not to pay, and to remove the distress from people who are unable to pay,” he adds.
He seems supportive of potential plans for the chancellor to announce relief for billpayers in the Budget, such as cutting the current 5% rate of VAT charged on energy.
“Anything that reduces the cost of energy, I would welcome.
“But the reality is we have got to pay for it in some way,” he warns.
Today’s disappointing growth figures reflect that the UK has returned to the slower lanes of growth, having outperformed earlier in the year.
The 0.1% growth seen in the July-to-September quarter was below forecasts, and the economy shrank in the month of September.
A breakdown in car production following the cyber-attack on Jaguar Land Rover does explain September’s contraction, and why the overall growth figures were worse than expected.
The ONS told me that if vehicle production had been flat rather than the worst monthly fall on record outside of the pandemic, GDP in September would have gone up.
That is not the full story, though. Momentum in the economy has clearly flagged.
In particular, slowdowns in consumer-facing services and business investment are a key concern.
Higher costs of employment and the constantly rolling uncertainty are not helping.
Consumers remain cautious, with high savings rates, and businesses have not yet turned on the investment taps.
A key objective for the Budget is to end the constant doom loop of speculation about tax changes. There will be a bigger buffer against fiscal shocks, and potential changes to how often the chancellor’s borrowing rules are assessed.
Certainty has a price, however, in terms of tax rises. The Budget will try to target the rise in tax away from worker pay packets and investors, but the sums involved make this a tricky task.
The silver lining for some to the cloudy figures is that a further Bank of England rate cut next month now seems very likely, with perhaps more to come next year.
It is reflected in the declining cost of government borrowing on markets, with key two- and five-year rates now below what Labour inherited when entering office. The cost of fixed mortgage rates is also starting to come down.
The chancellor will see this as vindication for a tough stance on her “non-negotiable” rules, and will use these figures to demand discipline over tricky Budget decisions from her backbenches. The property market has also, however, been impacted by speculation about tax changes.
The feel-good factor is missing. UK consumers, unlike US consumers, have kept savings levels high, and are not spending as much. Years of rolling crises, followed by ongoing uncertainty about policy, has left scars.
The UK economy has not managed to break the trend of slow growth, despite a strong-ish first half of the year. There was no growth when adjusting for the size of the population.
While the economy has defied the recessionary vibes, and could still end up the second fastest G7 economy this year, the Budget somehow has to provide certainty, try to boost consumer and business confidence, and at the same time fill a large fiscal gap.
It’s quite the ask, and the latest growth figures have raised the stakes for the Budget even higher.
New Delhi: The Central government informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that the investigation into the Air India Ahmedabad crash is being conducted by Indian authorities, in accordance with the mandate laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
The Solicitor General of India (SGI) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, submitted that the victims of the crash include foreign nationals as well. This, Mehta added, requires the investigation to be handled as per the international regime, which is followed in air crashes.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court, after hearing the Centre’s oral submissions, asked the petitioners, the father of deceased Captain Sumit Sabharwal, and an NGO, Safety Matters Foundation, to file their counter-replies to the Centre’s submissions, in this regard.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had sought the Centre’s response on pleas filed by petitioners seeking an independent, court-monitored probe into the Air India Ahmedabad crash that killed 260 people.
During the hearing today, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankarnarayan and Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners Pushkarraj Sabharwal, who is the father of Captain Sumit Sabharwal, the pilot of the Air India flight that crashed near Ahmedabad airport on June 12, and Safety Matter Foundation, another petitioner, sought a court-independent probe into the crash.
Bhushan stated that, as per the rules provided by the government, an accident of such a serious nature requires a court-ordered inquiry. Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, in agreement with the Centre’s submission, stated that there is indeed an international framework to be followed in the event of such crashes, but it is not being followed by the Central government.
During the hearing, the apex court also clarified that the Air Accident Investigation Bureau of India’s (AIBB) preliminary report has nothing to do with attributing responsibility or blame with respect to the tragic crash.
“It is not to apportioning responsibility, it is to clarify the cause and then give reasoning of the crash”, Justice Bagchi said.
Counsels appearing for petitioners also informed the Court that the Centre has not yet filed its response on their pleas seeking an independent probe into the crash. After noting the same, the Court asked the Centre to file its response in writing.
It also asked the petitioners to file their counter replies to the Centre’s response and listed the matter on a later date. (The listed date for the next hearing in the matter will be confirmed once today’s order is uploaded on the official Supreme Court website.)
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