The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its record-breaking run, with the benchmark KSE-100 closing at a new all-time high, approaching the 89,000 mark on Thursday.
At close, the benchmark index was at 88,945.98, an increase of 1,751.45 points or 2.01%. It hit a high of 89,126.15, which is now its record intra-day level.
“Investor optimism is fuelled by expectations ahead of the upcoming monetary policy meeting scheduled for November 4, 2024. Market sentiment suggests that two significant interest rate cuts may be on the horizon, prompting a wave of buying activity that propelled the index to its historic peak. Additionally, investors are shifting their fixed income portfolios into equities, further boosting market momentum,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
Majority expect up to 200bps reduction in key policy rate in upcoming MPC meeting, AHL survey finds
Key contributors to the index’s rise included FFC, UBL, OGDC, EFERT, and MCB, which collectively added 935 points. In terms of value traded, UBL led the pack with Rs3.1 billion, followed by ATRL at Rs2.5 billion, and OGDC with Rs1.9 billion, Topline said.
The cement sector garnered significant investor interest ahead of the monetary policy meeting, with notable performances from GWLC, ACPL, PIOC, KOHC, and CHCC, all closing higher than their previous day’s close, it added.
Market experts attributed the buying spree to various factors.
“Expectations of a policy rate cut and lower yields on government securities are driving investment in equities,” Samiullah Tariq, Head of Research and Development at Pakistan Kuwait Investment Company (Private) Limited, told Business Recorder.
Moreover, “better corporate results” are also fuelling this momentum.
Similar sentiments were expressed by others.
“Pakistan market saw another high led by aggressive institutional buying amid hope of big rate cuts in November and December monetary policy meetings,” said Mohammed Sohail, CEO Topline Securities, in a note.
He informed that a record volume of Rs53 billion ($190 million) was traded at PSX on Thursday in the cash and futures market “signalling improved confidence of investors”.
Meanwhile, Arif Habib Limited (AHL) stated that “this remarkable performance reflects a 41.0% gain CYTD in 2024 (4th high-performing equity market in the world) and 8.5% MoM increase”.
On Wednesday, the buying spree continued at the PSX as the benchmark index crossed the 87,000 level for the first time to settle at 87,194.53.
Globally, Asian markets were mixed on Thursday following steep losses on Wall Street as a spike in US Treasury yields led investors to scale back their expectations on interest rate cuts.
With the US presidential election still seen as a coin toss less than two weeks out, there was plenty of uncertainty on trading floors, though observers said dealers were eyeing a win for Donald Trump and policies that could stoke inflation again.
That, along with a strong run of economic data and remarks from Federal Reserve officials backing a cautious approach to easing monetary policy, has seen expectations for rate cuts whittled back.
Traders had last month been confident the central bank would follow up last month’s bumper 50-basis-point cut with another at its November meeting and a smaller one in December.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered a marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.04% in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At close, the currency settled at 277.84, a loss of Re0.11 against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 757.65 million from 699.29 million on Wednesday.
The value of shares rose to Rs36.05 billion from Rs26.82 billion in the previous session.
K-Electric Ltd was the volume leader with 113.2 million shares, followed by PTCL with 41.1 million shares, and Fauji CementXD with 23.3 million shares.
Shares of 238 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 238 registered an increase, 167 recorded a fall, while 49 remained unchanged.
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