AGL 40.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.16 (-0.4%)
AIRLINK 129.53 Decreased By ▼ -2.20 (-1.67%)
BOP 6.68 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.15%)
CNERGY 4.63 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (3.58%)
DCL 8.94 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.36%)
DFML 41.69 Increased By ▲ 1.08 (2.66%)
DGKC 83.77 Decreased By ▼ -0.31 (-0.37%)
FCCL 32.77 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (1.33%)
FFBL 75.47 Increased By ▲ 6.86 (10%)
FFL 11.47 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.06%)
HUBC 110.55 Decreased By ▼ -1.21 (-1.08%)
HUMNL 14.56 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (1.75%)
KEL 5.39 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.26%)
KOSM 8.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-6.46%)
MLCF 39.79 Increased By ▲ 0.36 (0.91%)
NBP 60.29 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
OGDC 199.66 Increased By ▲ 4.72 (2.42%)
PAEL 26.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.15%)
PIBTL 7.66 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (2.41%)
PPL 157.92 Increased By ▲ 2.15 (1.38%)
PRL 26.73 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.19%)
PTC 18.46 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (0.87%)
SEARL 82.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-0.7%)
TELE 8.31 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.97%)
TOMCL 34.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.12%)
TPLP 9.06 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (2.84%)
TREET 17.47 Increased By ▲ 0.77 (4.61%)
TRG 61.32 Decreased By ▼ -1.13 (-1.81%)
UNITY 27.43 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.04%)
WTL 1.38 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (7.81%)
BR100 10,400 Increased By 213 (2.09%)
BR30 31,653 Increased By 316.8 (1.01%)
KSE100 97,328 Increased By 1781.9 (1.86%)
KSE30 30,192 Increased By 614.4 (2.08%)
Markets

KSE-100 closes above 97,000 for the first time as investors dismiss political noise

  • Fertiliser sector leads the buying rally
Published November 21, 2024 Updated November 21, 2024 05:37pm

Records continued to tumble at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark KSE-100 gained 1,782 points to close above 97,000 for the first time in history on Thursday.

A buying spree has pushed the KSE-100 to a series of record highs in recent months.

On Thursday, the index saw brief selling in the early hours, hitting an intra-low of 95,300.21. However, a strong buying spree in the latter part of the day pushed it to settle at its highest-ever level.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 97,328.40, up by 1,781.94 points or 1.87%.

“This exceptional performance reflects a 55.9% gain CYTD in 2024 and a 9.5% month-to-date increase,” said Arif Habib Limited (AHL) in a note.

Buying was observed in automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals and refinery sectors. Stocks including NRL, HASCOL, PSO, EFERT, FFBQL, HBL and NBP traded positively.

“Investor interest was particularly concentrated in the fertilizer sector, considered as defensive stocks i.e., not impacted much by market volatility, while also offering double-digit dividend yields,” Saad Hanif, analyst at Ismail Iqbal Securities, told Business Recorder.

Pakistan’s stock market has been on an upward trajectory in recent weeks, amid optimism which comes on account of positive macroeconomic indicators and projections of a further reduction in key policy rates.

Experts said the buying was witnessed as investors’ concerns regarding the political protest scheduled for November 24 eased.

“We think that the positive is likely to continue, given the key drivers of the present rally i.e. falling rates, the IMF programme going smoothly, and less noisy politics remain intact,” said Intermarket Securities in a note.

“Key checkpoint for the market will be the upcoming PTI protests slated to start by 24 November,” it added.

On Wednesday, profit-taking was observed at the PSX as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed lower by 310 points to settle at 95,546.45.

Globally, Asian equities fell on Thursday after AI darling Nvidia disappointed investors with a subdued revenue forecast, while the dollar firmed and bitcoin hit a record high in anticipation of US President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed policies.

Prevailing geopolitical concerns following the escalating conflict in Ukraine earlier this week led safe-haven assets higher, including gold and government bonds.

The spotlight though was on earnings from the world’s most valuable firm Nvidia, which projected its slowest revenue growth in seven quarters, sending its shares lower.

Nasdaq futures slipped 0.47%, while S&P 500 futures eased 0.3%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.23%, with tech heavy Taiwan stocks down 0.5%. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.7%.

In another key development, Gautam Adani, the billionaire chair of Indian conglomerate Adani Group and one of the world’s richest people, was indicted in New York over his role in a $265 million bribery scheme, according to US prosecutors.

Comments

200 characters
KK Nov 21, 2024 02:18pm
Useless benchmark, does not reflect true state of economy. Rightly termed as a casino.
thumb_up Recommended (0) reply Reply
Memoona anees Nov 21, 2024 02:46pm
Sir! I'm student of BS math 1st semester.I am eligible for CM laptop scheme
thumb_up Recommended (0) reply Reply
sadiq Nov 21, 2024 04:56pm
Why pharma stocks are going high?
thumb_up Recommended (0) reply Reply