KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange continued its positive momentum on Friday and closed at highest-ever level in its history on the back of aggressive buying, mainly by local investors coupled with institutional support.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 466.28 points or 0.89 percent and crossed 53,000 psychological level to close at highest-ever level of 53,123.04 points. The index hit 53,263.07 points intraday high, which was also highest-ever intraday high level in the PSX history.
Trading activity also improved as daily volumes on ready counter increased to 509.113 million shares as compared to 475.085 million shares traded on Thursday. The daily traded value on ready counter increased to Rs 15.586 billion against previous session’s Rs 14.578 billion.
BRIndex100 added 52.47 points or 0.98 percent to close at 5,421.80 points with total daily turnover of 453.992 million shares.
BRIndex30 increased by 188.52 points or 1.01 percent to close at 18,856.81 points with total daily trading volumes of 264.481 million shares.
Foreign investors however remained net sellers of shares worth $641,847. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 37 billion to Rs 7.676 trillion. Out of total 365 active scrips, 225 closed in positive and 115 in negative while the value of 25 stocks remained unchanged.
Kohinoor Spinning was the volumes leader with 43.173 million shares and gained Rs 0.27 to close at Rs 2.26 followed by Pak Refinery that increased by Rs 1.08 to close at Rs 22.65 with 41.824 million shares. TPL Properties inched up by Rs 0.28 to close at Rs 13.38 with 29.063 million shares.
Rafhan Maize and Nestle Pakistan were the top gainers increasing by Rs 194.90 and Rs 100.00 respectively to close at Rs 7995.00 and Rs 7300.00 while Unilever Foods and Mehmood Textile were the top losers declining by Rs 350.00 and Rs 29.03 respectively to close at Rs 22400.00 and Rs 483.50.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that the KSE-100 Index continuing its positive moment gained 0.90 percent in the trading session to close at its all-time high of 53,123 level, highest-ever closing after May 24, 2017.
This positivity in market can be attributed to decline in yields in the in T-Bills auction held during the week in the range of 25bps to 41bps, post monetary policy announcement on Monday where the Central Bank kept the policy rate unchanged at 22 percent.
Major positive contribution to the index came from MEBL, HUBC, OGDC, FFC and LUCK, as they cumulatively contributed plus 237 points to the index. On the flip side HBL, ENGRO, POL, SRVI and MLCF lost value to weigh down on the index by minus 85 points.
BR Automobile Assembler Index increased by 176.32 points or 1.59 percent to close at 11,279.37 points with total turnover of 8.068 million shares.
BR Cement Index inched up by 2.75 points or 0.05 percent to close at 5,713.79 points with 26.711 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index added 122.78 points or 0.98 percent to close at 12,627.74 points with 33.429 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index surged by 228.82 points or 1.95 percent to close at 11,973.69 points with 24.126 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index gained 36.24 points or 0.76 percent to close at 4,827.40 points with 36.920 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 3,601.89 points, up 25.58 points or 0.72 percent with 59.059 million shares.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the Pakistan Stock Exchange soared to all-time high level and the KSE-100 Index closed at 53,123 and surpassed its previous all-time high of 52,876 points, which was last observed in May 2017.
This was made possible due to a variety of factors, including IMF Stand-by Arrangement amounting $3.0 billion signed back in June 2023; formation of Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in areas including agriculture, mining, energy and information technology; robust results of listed companies which jumped by 46 percent YoY during the first nine months of CY23 and 66 percent YoY in the third quarter of CY23; impressive dividends announcement by the companies (9MCY23: up 42 percent YoY | 3QCY23: up 18 percent YoY) and buyback spree in the listed space where total buy-backs clocked in at Rs 41 billion since May 2022.
There are also some other factors that supported the market to hit all time high level that include peaked out inflation (Sep’23: 31.4 percent) and interest rates (Oct’23: 22 percent) and expectations of monetary easing cycle; easing off import restrictions post IMF program and revival of economic activities; currency strengthening (up 8.4 percent regained since low of PKR 307/USD); energy sector reforms including electricity and gas tariff hikes along with theft and recovery drive by the authorities; IMF’s first review is in progress with almost all of the targets met for IMF’s 2nd tranche; Current Account Deficit declined by 58 percent YoY to $947 million in first quarter of FY24; LSM finally saw positive YoY growth in August 2023 after a 14-month period (+ 2.5% YoY | +8.4% MoM); Tax collection above target (4MFY24: Rs 2.8 trillion, up 28 percent YoY, surpassed target by Rs 66 billion); bumper production of important crops (FY24 –cotton arrival 15-Oct-24): 6.8mn bales against 4.9 million bales during FY23) and general election date announcement - Feb 08, 2024.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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