Some buying momentum persists at PSX, KSE-100 settles above 90,000

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its record-breaking rally, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index registering new highs, briefly crossing the 91,000 level for the first time during intra-day trading on Monday.

The KSE-100 started the session positive, hitting an intra-day high of 91,054.84, followed by some selling in the second half, which trimmed intra-day gains.

However, the index still managed to close above 90,000, which is also for the first time in history.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 90,195.51, an increase of 201.55 points or 0.22%. It hit an intra-day high of 91,054.83.

Index-heavy stocks including HBL, MCB, MEBL, PPL, PSO, SNGPL and SSGC traded in the green.

The stock market has been on a record-breaking spree in recent weeks, as investors anticipate a significant policy rate cut in the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announcement by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), scheduled for next week.

Additionally, optimism is extended by corporate result announcements and favourable economic developments.

During the previous week, PSX performed extremely well and hit historic levels on the back of aggressive buying mainly by local investors and institutional support.

The KSE-100 Index surged by a massive 4,743.88 points on week-on-week basis and closed at its then highest level in history at 89,993.97 points.

The index crossed a historic 90,000 points psychological level but failed to sustain this level due to profit-taking in some stocks.

Internationally, Mainland China stocks fell in early trade on Monday, while Hong Kong stocks barely moved as investors anxiously await potential outcomes of a key meeting at home and the U.S. presidential election due next week.

China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index eased 0.4%, while the Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng was largely flat in early trade.

China’s top legislative body will meet from Nov. 4-8, state news agency Xinhua said on Friday, with no mention on the agenda of highly anticipated debt and other fiscal measures.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee recorded a marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.01% in the inter-bank market on Monday. At close, the currency settled at 277.68, a loss of Re0.04 against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 567.26 million from 695.54 million on Friday.

The value of shares declined to Rs29.21 billion from Rs37.87 billion in the previous session.

Fauji Foods Ltd was the volume leader with 53.65 million shares, followed by K-Electric Ltd with 29.88 million shares, and Sui South Gas with 27.41 million shares.

Shares of 456 companies were traded on Monday, of which 179 registered an increase, 222 recorded a fall, while 55 remained unchanged.