Positivity prevails at PSX, KSE-100 gains over 400 points

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its upward trajectory amid talks of a further cut in the key policy rate next week as the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 410 points on Wednesday.

The KSE-100 started with a buying spree, hitting an intra-day high of 79,704.37, which was followed by some profit-taking in the final hours.

At close, the index settled at 79,397.01, up by 409.92 points or 0.52%.

“The benchmark index closed on a positive note, driven by expectations of a rate cut in the upcoming MPC meeting and excitement surrounding the results season,” brokerage house Ismail Iqbal Securities said in its post-market report.

Buying was majorly led by the banking sector, alongside fertiliser, pharmaceutical, oil and gas exploration companies, and OMCs.

Index-heavy stocks including OGDC, PPL, PSO, SHEL, HBL, MCB and NBP traded in the green.

Meanwhile, corporate results announcements have begun with Honda Atlas Cars reporting a profit-after-tax (PAT) nearly 40% higher at Rs202.63 million in the quarter ended June 30 of fiscal year 2024-25, as compared to PAT of Rs144.96 million recorded in the same period of the previous year.

As per HCAR’s financial statements, the automobile company’s earnings per share (EPS) stood at Rs1.42 during the quarter, compared to an EPS of Rs1.02 last year.

Meanwhile, the Board of Directors of Lucky Core Industries Limited (LCI), formerly known as ICI Pakistan Limited, gave its go-ahead to a capacity expansion of 200,000 tons per annum (TPA) at its soda ash plant in Khewra.

Experts attributed the positivity to expectations of another cut in the policy rate by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in its upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.

A survey conducted by JS Global, a brokerage house, revealed robust expectations for a substantial policy rate reduction.

“While the market leans towards a 100bps cut, a notable portion of respondents anticipate a more aggressive 150bps move,” it added.

After much delay, the central bank has also issued the advance calendar of MPC meetings for the period between July and December 2024.

The SBP is due to hold the first MPC meeting on July 29 (Monday).

On Tuesday, the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed higher by nearly 450 points to settle at 78,987.09.

Globally, the Asian stocks were subdued on Wednesday after lacklustre earnings from U.S. tech behemoths Tesla and Alphabet dented sentiment, while the yen hit a six-week high ahead of a central bank meeting next week where a rate hike remains on the table.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.08% lower at 566.26, not far from the one-month low of 562.43 it touched on Monday.

Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.23% while Taiwan financial markets are closed due to a typhoon.

The Pakistani rupee registered a marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.03% in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. At close, the currency settled at 278.50, a loss of Re0.09, against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 386.98 million from 316.24 million a session ago.

The value of shares declined to Rs14.9 billion from Rs17.07 billion in the previous session.

Silk Bank Ltd was the volume leader with 36.87 million shares, followed by Hascol Petrol with 25.78 million shares, and PIA Holding Company with 17.16 million shares.

Shares of 430 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 228 registered an increase, 155 recorded a fall, while 47 remained unchanged.