KARACHI: Bulls dominate the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday as the market hit historic highest-ever levels on the back of aggressive buying, mainly by local investors coupled with institutional support on expectations of further cut in interest rate in the upcoming monetary policy meeting scheduled for November 4, 2024.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 1,751.45 points or 2.01 percent and closed at all-time highest level of 88,945.99 points. The index crossed 89,000 psychological level for the first time in its history to hit 89,126.16 intra-day highest ever level, however closed at slightly lower level due to profit taking in some stocks.
Trading activity also improved as daily volumes increased to 757.648 million shares as compared to 699.294 million shares traded on Wednesday. The daily traded value on the ready counter increased to Rs 36.047 billion against previous session’s Rs 26.824 billion.
BRIndex100 soared by 239.1 points or 2.56 percent to close at 9,586.07 points with daily turnover of 666.971 million shares.
BRIndex30 increased by 678.57 points or 2.41 percent to close at 28,791.24 points with daily trading volumes of 464.752 million shares.
Foreign investors however remained on the selling side and withdrew $9.654 million from the local equity market. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 174 billion to Rs 11.592 trillion. Out of total 454 active scrips, 238 closed in positive and 167 in negative while the value of 49 stocks remained unchanged.
K-Electric was the volume leader with 113.202 million shares and inched up by Rs 0.15 to close at Rs 4.82 followed by PTCL that gained Rs 0.98 to close at Rs 16.76 with 41.105 million shares. Fauji Cement increased by Rs 1.13 to close at Rs 31.46 with 23.272 million shares.
Unilever Pakistan Foods and Pakistan Tobacco Company were the top gainers increasing by Rs 191.89 and Rs 109.40 respectively to close at Rs 18,455.56 and Rs 1,203.37 while Rafhan Maize Products Company and Nestle Pakistan were the top losers declining by Rs 271.44 and Rs 156.94 respectively to close at Rs 7,028.56 and Rs 6,624.96.
“Bulls dominate the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the KSE-100 index surged to an all-time high of 89,126 points, gaining 1,931 points or 2.22 percent, before closing at 88,945 points, up by 2.01 percent”, Muhammad Sohail, leading analyst and CEO of Topline Securities said.
Investor optimism is fuelled by expectations ahead of the upcoming monetary policy meeting scheduled for November 4, 2024, he added.
He said that the 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.
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 Rs 3.1 billion, followed by ATRL at Rs 2.5 billion, and OGDC with Rs 1.9 billion.
The cement sector garnered significant investor interest ahead of the monetary policy meeting, with notable performances from GWLC (10%), ACPL (10%), PIOC (4.5%), KOHC (4.37%), and CHCC (4.01%), all closing higher than their previous day’s close.
BR Automobile Assembler Index gained 63.54 points or 0.35 percent to close at 18,076.48 points with 11.626 million shares.
BR Cement Index surged by 276.1 points or 3.12 percent to close at 9,133.79 points with 91.170 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index increased by 476.63 points or 1.95 percent to close at 24,978.59 points with 58.880 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index soared by 214.16 points or 1.41 percent to close at 15,453.58 points with 130.701 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index added 156.28 points or 1.87 percent to close at 8,515.77 points with 48.738 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 4,269.33 points, up 37.59 points or 0.89 percent with 127.820 million shares.
Senior analyst Khurram Schehzad said that Pakistan stock market, as gauged by the KSE-100 index, has gone up by about 9.0 percent in October 2024 to date, closing at a high of 88,946 points, with a change or about 1,751, or 2.0 percent.
He said slowdown in inflation with persistence, leading to expectations of significant decline in policy rate, softening global oil prices and improving/stabilizing macros and clarity on political fronts, led to investor confidence and rally in the stock market, which has remained grossly undervalued, still trading below 6x its earnings.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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