Bulls continued to make further inroads at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), as the benchmark KSE-100 Index, led by buying activity in index-heavy shares, closed 615 points higher on Friday.
The KSE-100 started the session positive, hitting an intra-day high of 82,372.20 in the first half.
The second half saw some selling that trimmed the earlier gains, but the bulls regained their grip in the final hours.
At close, the benchmark index settled at a record high of 82,074.45, up by 615.16 points or 0.76%.
“Continuing its momentum the KSE-100 Index largely traded in positive zone during the trading session,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
“This positivity can be attributed to lower than expected selling on account of FTSE rebalance today (FTSE Russell in its review announced reclassification of Pakistan from Secondary Emerging to Frontier Market status),” it added.
Sectors that contributed positively including banking, cement, technology, pharma, auto, and textile.
On a weekly basis, the KSE-100 gained 2.57%.
According to Topline, the weekly gain can be attributed to decline in KIBOR and yields on government bills in secondary market, indicating market expectation of further cut in policy rate going forward.
Experts said some of the positivity comes as investors anticipate the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board approval.
The IMF board is scheduled to take Pakistan’s 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of about $7 billion on the agenda on September 25.
On Thursday, improved macroeconomic indicators at the local front and the Federal Reserve’s larger-than-usual reduction pushed the PSX upwards, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 81,459.29, a gain of 997.95 points or 1.24%.
Globally, Asian shares extended their rally on Friday, bathing in the afterglow of an outsized interest US rate cut, while the yen edged higher as the Bank of Japan held rates steady and stayed upbeat on the economy.
In China, the central bank kept its benchmark lending rates on hold, countering expectations for a move lower. Chinese shares were an outlier in the region, with blue chips down 0.5%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6% to the highest in two months, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. The index was headed for a weekly gain of 2.4%.
Markets imply a 40% chance the Fed will cut by another 50 basis points in November and have 73 basis points priced in by year-end. Rates are seen at 2.85% by the end of 2025, which is now thought to be the Fed’s estimate of neutral.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 482.37 million from 459.04 million on Thursday.
The value of shares jumped to Rs30.19 billion from Rs18.61 billion in the previous session.
Ist.Capital Sec was the volume leader with 31.59 million shares, followed by Oil & Gas Dev. with 29.41 million shares, and Fauji Fert Bin with 28.62 million shares.
Shares of 453 companies were traded on Friday, of which 195 registered an increase, 196 recorded a fall, while 62 remained unchanged.