KSE-100 conquers 61,000 after single-day gain of 1,160 points

Bulls resumed their momentum at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark KSE-100 crossed the 61,000 level amid a jump of nearly 2% on Friday.

The KSE-100 started the session on a positive note, which continued till end of the day.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 61,691.25, up by 1,159.98 points or 1.92%.

Across-the-board buying was witnessed with index heavy sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration, OMCs and refinery sector trading in the green.

At close on Thursday, the KSE-100 Index had closed almost flat, settling at 60,531.27, slightly up 0.05% or 29.27 points.

In November, the KSE-100 posted a return of 16.6%, the highest after March 2009 (excluding April 2020 return i.e. 16.7% in post Covid month), brokerage house Arif Habib Limited had said in a note earlier.

The buying spree comes on the back of a staff-level agreement reached between Pakistani authorities and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the first review under the nine-month $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).

Market experts believe improvement in the country’s financial indicators including improvement in the foreign exchange reserve position and an expected decline in the policy rate is driving the bullish trend.

In a relatable development, Pakistan’s trade deficit shrank 33.59% to $9.38 billion in 5MFY24 on account of a significant reduction in imports, a direct result of administratively controlled measures, according to data released on Friday by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Moreover, the headline inflation clocked in at 29.2% on a year-on-year basis in November, higher than the reading in October when it stood at 26.9%. On a month-on-month basis, it was up 2.7%, PBS said.

Meanwhile, the rupee continued its upward trajectory against the US dollar for the fourth successive session as it appreciated 0.07% in the inter-bank market on Friday. As per the State Bank of Pakistan, the currency settled at 284.97, an increase of Re0.20.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 531.3 million from 467.1 million a session before.

The value of shares rose to Rs21.5 billion from Rs18.7 billion in the previous session.

Maple Leaf remained the volume leader with 43 million shares, followed by Pak Elektron with 37.8 million shares and Fauji Fert Bin with 27.5 million shares.

Shares of 388 companies were traded on Friday, of which 298 registered an increase, 74 recorded a fall, while 16 remained unchanged.