Fresh peak: KSE-100 crosses 55,000 after 1,130-point gain

Bullish momentum persisted at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark KSE-100 Index crossed the 55,000 level, setting a new record high, with a jump of over 2% on Friday.

At close, the KSE-100 Index settled at 55,391.36, an increase of 1129.94 points or 2.08%.

It earlier hit an intra-day high of 55,506.32, which is now the highest level reached by the KSE-100.

On Wednesday, the KSE-100 Index had settled at the then-historic high level of 54,261 amid record activity.

Across-the-board buying was witnessed during trading on Friday, with index-heavy sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, fertiliser, power generation and distribution, refinery, oil and gas exploration companies and OMCs trading in the green.

“PIB auction result led the rally,” said Mohammed Sohail, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Topline Securities, in a note on Thursday.

Earlier, Sohail said a “big fall in Pakistan bond yields signal market now expecting a rate cut may be sooner than expected. And also at a faster pace than earlier expectations.”

Moreover, improved macroeconomic indicators including a decline in the country’s current account deficit, which was reduced to $8 million in September 2023 as compared to the CAD of $360 million in the same month in 2022, and a drop in CPI-based inflation has also propelled the positive sentiment at the bourse.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee’s downward trajectory continued for the 14th successive session against the US dollar, as it depreciated 0.05% in the inter-bank market on Friday. As per the State Bank of Pakistan, the local currency settled at 287.03, a decrease of Re0.13.

In a related development, inflow of overseas workers’ remittances clocked in at $2.5 billion in October 2023, 11.5% higher on a month-on-month basis when compared to $2.2 billion in September 2023, showed data released by the SBP.

On Friday, volume on the all-share index increased to 640.8 million from 482.7 million a session before.

The value of shares rose to Rs21.1 billion from Rs20.1 billion in the previous session.

Cnergyico PK remained the volume leader with 103.4 million shares, followed by Hum Network with 42.4 million shares and Pak Refinery with 31 million shares.

Shares of 380 companies were traded on Friday, of which 260 registered an increase, 103 recorded a fall, while 17 remained unchanged.