KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) crossed the psychological barrier of 60,000 points for the first time in history amid ongoing bull-run on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 918.92 points (+1.54 percent) to close at 60,730.26 points.
The market opened on a positive note and remained bullish throughout the session. The ongoing bullish trend comes amid the country’s improved economic indicators and the interim government’s successful negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the first review, which will unlock $700 million in funding. The gains came due to individuals and institutional investors making significant new investments in expectation of deep cuts in interest rates and the availability of stocks at low prices.
Arif Habib Limited Head of Research Tahir Abbas said that the high expectation for a deep seven percent cut in the key policy rate by the State Bank of Pakistan over the next one year gave a boost to investors to take new possessions. Abbas mentioned that the interest rate cut expectations have made rich individuals and institutional investors relocate their investments to the stock market from fixed-income instruments these days.
Topline Securities CEO Muhammad Sohail said in a tweet that the PSX is breaking records and the development is “still not surprising.” The market has gained 50% in only five months to over 60,000 points from 40,000 points. “This is the fastest 50 percent rise in a few months after 2004,” he wrote.
According to analysts, the market has maintained the momentum and the benchmark index is projected to hit 75,000 points over the next 13 months in December 2024. The forecast is based on three major developments in the near future, including a potential cut in interest rate by seven percentage points to 15pc by the end of December 2024 from a record high of 22pc at present; general elections are expected to be held on time in February 2024; and the newly elected government would acquire a new and larger IMF loan programme to push the economy into a growth phase from the current stabilization phase.
The benchmark index traded in a range of 821.75 points, showing an intraday high of 60,845.60 points and an intraday low of 60,023.85 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 453.95 points (+1.12 percent) to close at 40,401.04 points. Similarly, the KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 169.59 points (+0.58 percent) to close at 29,480.07 points.
Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index increased by 59.74 million to 336.60 million shares against 276.86 million shares a session earlier. The overall market volumes increased by 122.09 million shares to 779.67 million shares against 657.58 million shares traded a session earlier.
Among scrips, KOSM topped the volumes with 79.24 million shares, followed by WTL (57.45 million) and BOP (44.33 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included KOSM, WTL, BOP, CNERGY, and PRL, which formed over 30 percent of total volumes.
A total of 389 companies traded shares in the stock exchange against 387 companies a session earlier, out of which shares of 175 closed up, shares of 199 companies closed down while shares of 15 companies remained unchanged. A total of 98 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index against 97 a session earlier, out of which share prices of 55 companies closed up, 42 companies closed down and one remained unchanged.
The number of total trades increased to 265,115 from 220,793 a session earlier, while the value traded increased by Rs5.87 billion to Rs26.14 billion against Rs20.27 billion in the previous session.- TLTP