KSE-100 closes nearly flat on last day of FY2023-24

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw a mixed session on Friday, as its benchmark KSE-100 Index swayed in both directions before closing the last day of the financial year 2023-24 nearly flat.

The KSE-100 saw some buying in the first half, hitting an intra-day high of 78,784.23.

However, profit-taking in the latter hours erased the gains and pushed the index into the negative territory.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 78,444.96, down by 83.29 points or 0.11%.

“The equity market remained relatively flat on the last trading day of the fiscal year,” brokerage house Ismail Iqbal Securities said.

Commercial banks, power generation & distribution, and oil & gas exploration companies sectors remain major laggards on Friday.

On Thursday, positive sentiment had prevailed at the PSX as the KSE-100 closed in the green with a gain of 252.61 points.

Another brokerage house Topline Securities said a range-bound session was observed on the last trading session of the week as the index traded between its intra-day high of 266 points and intra-day low 216 points.

On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, the KSE 100 gained 3.42%.

“This positivity in the market can be attributed to Federal Budget FY25 which was better than market expectations as tax rate on dividend and capital gain from stock market for filers was maintained, whereas tax rate on other asset classes was increased,” Topline Securities said.

In the financial year 2023-24, the benchmark index performed impressively, achieving a staggering 89.24% increase as market fundamentals continued to improve, Ismail Iqbal Securities said.

As per Arif Habib Limited (AHL), the KSE-100 stood as the “world’s best-performing market” in FY24 on the back of economic and political developments in the country.

Developments such as a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), establishment of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), measures to curb illegal forex activities, and a downtend in inflation were among the reasons for the KSE-100’s extraordinary performance, AHL said.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly on Friday passed the government’s tax-heavy finance bill for the coming fiscal year (FY25) ahead of more talks on a new bailout with the IMF as it seeks to avert a debt default for an economy growing at the slowest pace in South Asia.

The government presented the tax-loaded budget two weeks ago, drawing sharp criticism from opposition parties and other business entities that expressed concern over rising government expenditures and little fiscal room for economic growth.

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) secured debt financing of up to $400 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank, for the acquisition of Telenor Pakistan and Orion Towers (Private) Limited (TPL). The telecom company shared the development in a notice to the PSX.

Asian stocks were headed for a fifth straight month of gains on Friday, bolstered by the growing view that cooling inflation in the United States would allow the Federal Reserve to ease rates later this year.

Friday is packed with risk events for markets after a relatively subdued rest of the week, with US Democratic President Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trump set to take the stage at 0100 GMT for their first debate of the year ahead of November’s US presidential elections.

Chinese markets, in particular, will be looking out for comments about the trade relationship with Beijing, which has further soured in recent years.

The Pakistani rupee ended the final trading session of the current fiscal year 2023-24 on a positive note as the currency saw a marginal appreciation of 0.01% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 347.67 million from 283.54 million a session ago.

The value of shares rose to Rs11.9 billion from Rs11.06 billion in the previous session.

P.T.C.L was the volume leader with 70.99 million shares, followed by K-Electric Ltd with 18.70 million shares, and WorldCall Telecom with 13.19 million shares.

Shares of 435 companies were traded on Friday, of which 189 registered an increase, 170 recorded a fall, while 76 remained unchanged.