KARACHI: Bullish trend continued and the Pakistan Stock Exchange hit historic highest ever levels during the outgoing week ended on November 22, 2024 on the back aggressive buying mainly by local investors coupled with institutional support.
The benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 3,034.59 points on week-on-week basis and closed the week at its highest ever level of 97,798.23 points. During the week the index crossed 99,000 historic-level, however closed at slightly lower level due to profit taking in some stocks.
Trading activities also improved as average daily volumes on ready counter increased by 12.8 percent to 990.71 million shares during this week as compared to previous week’s average of 878.54 million shares while average daily traded value on the ready counter increased by 5.4 percent to Rs 34.41 billion during this week against previous week’s Rs 32.66 billion.
BRIndex100 increased by 359.58 points during this week to close at 10,445.15 points with average daily turnover of 802.442 million shares.
BRIndex30 gained 19.23 points on week-on-week basis to close at 31,189.45 points with average daily trading volumes of 473.261 million shares.
The foreign investors however remained on the selling side and withdrew $32.958 million from the local equity market during this week. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 312 billion during this week to Rs 12.518 trillion.
An analyst at AKD Securities said that the market remained positive throughout the week, with KSE-100 index closing at a record high of 97,798points on Friday, up 3.2 percent/3,035points WoW.
During the last trading session, the index touched an intraday high of 99,630 points, just 377points shy of the 100,000 mark.
The positive momentum was primarily driven by Banks and Fertilizer sector, which collectively contributed plus 2,839points to the index. Wherein, re-rating in these sectors continued, supported by their attractive dividend yields compared to fixed-income yields. Additionally, fertilizer sector’s performance was further boosted by the ongoing amalgamation of FFC with FFBL, with FFC emerging as the best-performing stock during the week.
Meanwhile, banks showed growth, with their lending gaining momentum, bringing the ADR to 44 percent as of October 25, 2024, compared to 39 percent the previous week, to avoid higher ADR-based taxation, as the government has appealed to the Supreme Court against the Islamabad High Court’s stay order on this tax. Furthermore, in the latest PIB auction, yields for 2, 5, and 10-year bonds declined to 13.05 percent, 12.50 percent, and 12.84 percent, respectively, marking their lowest levels since March 2022.
Additionally, the conclusion of the IMF interim review and positive remarks alleviated concerns over a potential mini-budget and boosted investor confidence.
Sector-wise, Fertilizer, Pharmaceuticals, and Banks were amongst the top performers, up 8.6 percent/7.1 percent/6.0 percent WoW, respectively. On the other hand, jute, woollen, and leasing companies were amongst the worst performers with a decline of 7.7 percent/5.4 percent/4.2 percent WoW.
Flow wise, major net selling was recorded by Foreigners with a net sell of $33.0million. On the other hand, Companies and Mutual Funds absorbed most of the selling with a net buy of $13.0million and $12.3million, respectively.
Company-wise, top performers during the week were PSEL (up 19.6 percent), KAPCO (up 18.5 percent), GLAXO (up 17.9 percent), FFBL (up 15.6 percent) and FFC (up 15.4 percent), while top laggards were NCPL (down 15.0 percent), HCAR (down 10.3 percent), SEARL (down 8.2 percent), TRG (down 7.2 percent) and PKGP (down 6.9 percent).
An analyst at JS Global Capital said that bullish momentum continued taking the KSE-100 index to close at all-time high levels of 97,798, increase of 3.2 percent.
According to the data released from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Pakistan recorded a noteworthy third consecutive monthly surplus of $349million in October 2024, resulting in a cumulative current account surplus of $218million for the first four months of FY25, compared to a deficit of $1.53billion during the same period last year.
Market sentiment improved following the Finance Minister’s assurance that no mini-budget or new tax measures would be introduced after successful talks with the IMF team.
Banking sector stocks gained momentum as banks continue to work toward meeting ADR targets, latest data showed a 9.0 percent rise in the loan portfolio in October 2024, while deposits declined 3.0 percent MoM.
In the PIBs auction held this week, government raised Rs368billion against the target of Rs300billion whereas Cut-off yields declined by 9-19 bps across tenors. As per latest data, SBP reserves remained stable at $11.3 billion.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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