KSE-100 crosses 48,000-point level after nearly 2 years

The bull run at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued on Monday as the benchmark KSE-100 gained over 950 points or 2% to settle above 48,000, a level not witnessed since August 23, 2021.

The index, which has been on a positive run since Pakistan’s staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has also been boosted by positive triggers in the oil and gas sector with PSO, OGDC, PPL, SNGP along with banks leading the rally.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 48,034.60, an increase of 957.60 points or 2.03%.

On Thursday, the index had settled at 47,077 after an increase of 394.47 points or 0.85%. This was the first time the KSE-100 had closed over the 47,000 level since November 2021.

Despite profit-booking: KSE-100 closes over 47,000, first time since Nov 2021

Last week, it was reported that leading Pakistani state-owned companies are set to join hands with Saudi Aramco for a $10-billion greenfield refinery project at Gwadar Port.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony took place at the head office of OGDC, a news release at the time said.

The development has acted as a major trigger for the oil and gas sector rally. In addition, the government swiftly moving to empower the caretaker setup that is set to take over as political parties gear up for elections has also acted as a sign of policy continuity.

“Reports pertaining to the resolution of circular debt, and the upcoming refinery policy is positively impacting the index-heavy E&P sector,” Waqas Kukaswadia, Deputy Head of Research at JS Global, told Business Recorder.

“However, we will need to look at the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announcement today, as the market is expecting a hike of 1% in the policy rate,” he added.

Mohammed Sohail, CEO at Topline Securities, in a note said that the “optimism over investment from Saudi Arabia and the UAE along with the Pakistan Mineral Summit is helping investor confidence”.

The PSX’s bull run has resulted in the KSE-100 gaining 6,582 points or 15.9% since the staff-level agreement with the IMF. The winning streak has also meant the KSE-100 enjoyed one of its best months in July.

Sectors lifting the benchmark index higher on Monday included banking (382.00 points), oil and gas exploration (258.90 points) and cement (71.91 points).

On the economic front, the Pakistani rupee weakened marginally against the US dollar, to settle at 286.64 in the inter-bank market.

In a key development coming just after close of market, the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announced to keep the policy rate unchanged at 22%, citing a decline in the inflation rate in June.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 491.8 million from 455.1 million on Thursday. The value of shares traded rose marginally to Rs17.88 billion from Rs17.87 billion in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 49.3 million shares followed by K-Electric Limited with 39.4 million shares and Cnergyico PK with 32.4 million shares.

Shares of 358 companies were traded on Monday, of which 188 registered an increase, 144 recorded a fall and 26 remained unchanged.