Market surges to new all-time highs as bull-run continues

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) surged to new highs and closed above the 54,000 points level for the first time in its history on Wednesday.
The benchmark KSE-100 index closed the session at 54,261.42 points with a gain of 525.69 points (+0.98 percent). The market took a minor dip just at the start of the session but turned to positive within minutes and remained in the green throughout the sessions.
Mohammed Sohail, chief executive of Topline Securities, said, “Another high touched by the KSE-100 index reaching 54400 during the trading this morning.” He said the positive sentiment was due to expectations building that interest rates may come down sooner than expected after a fall in global oil prices, which will help in easing inflation in Pakistan.
JS Global Head of Equity Faran Rizvi said the market has entered “uncharted territory”, and is technically being overbought and potentially in need of a pause at current levels. However, he cautioned that the stock valuations remain remarkably low, and investors are actively seeking opportunities that have yet to fully materialize. “Stock valuations have declined to just one-third of the index’s peak as observed back in May 2017,” he highlighted.
The investor sentiment remained high amid expectations of a successful International Monetary Fund (IMF) review. A delegation of the global body landed in Islamabad last week for the much-awaited loan review talks, setting the stage for a deep dive into forward-looking reforms under a nine-month bailout package, slated to be completed in March next year. The bull run is also being attributed to the falling interest rate in secondary markets, which is helping the equity market. Moreover, the continuing company buybacks are adding impetus to the market.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 699.2 points, showing an intraday high of 54,419.65 points and an intraday low of 53,720.45 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 335.29 points (+0.93 percent) to close at 36,146.65 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 245.58 points (+0.93 percent) to close at 26,512.85 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased by 12.79 million to 258.96 million shares against 246.17 million shares a session earlier. The overall market volumes decreased by 23.45 million shares to 482.63 million shares against 506.08 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, PRL topped the volumes with 40.3 million shares, followed by CNERGY (38.44 million) and HUMNL (31.18 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included PRL, CNERGY, HUMNL, KEL, and KOSM, which formed around 34 percent of total volumes.
A total of 371 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 364 companies a session earlier, out of which shares of 233 closed up, shares of 116 companies closed down while shares of 22 companies remained unchanged. A total of 100 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 97 a session earlier, out of which share prices of 75 companies closed up, 21 closed down and four remained unchanged.
The number of total trades decreased to 176,953 from 211,511 a session earlier, while the value traded increased by Rs1.86 billion to Rs20.12 billion against Rs18.26 billion in the previous session.
In terms of rupee, UPFL remained the top gainer with an increase of Rs1,179 (+5.31 percent) per share, closing at Rs23,400. The runner-up remained PSMC, the share price of which climbed up by Rs30.46 (+7.5 percent) to Rs436.53. SAPT remained the top loser with a decrease of Rs88.49 (-7.44 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,101.01, followed by INDU, the share price of which fell by Rs58.63 (-5.42 percent) to close at Rs1,022.58 per share.
The major sectors taking the index towards north remained commercial banks (186 points), power generation & distribution (70 points), fertilizer (65 points), oil & gas exploration companies (56 points), and cement (52 points). The major companies adding points to the index remained HUBC (51 points), ENGRO (46 points), MEBL (41 points), HBL (36 points), and MTL (34 points).
The sectors taking the index towards south were technology & communication (15 points), cable & electrical goods (5 points), pharmaceuticals (3 points), and transport (1 point). The major companies depriving the index of points remained INDU (25 points), TRG (23 points), PAEL (5 points), ILP (4 points), and ABOT (3 points). – TLTP