KSE-100 jumps over 700 points amid return of positive sentiment

Positive sentiment returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday as the benchmark KSE-100 Index jumped over 700 points and crossed the 41,000-point level.

The rupee’s recovery against the US dollar combined with investor optimism over hopes of a positive outcome from talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sparked a rally at the equity market.

By the end of the session, the KSE-100 Index was up 722.47 points or 1.79% to close at 41,193.63.

Trading began with a spike and the market maintained rising momentum throughout the day. Buying activity accelerated in the final hours, accelerating gains.

Across-the-board buying was witnessed with index-heavy sectors including, cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil & gas exploration companies and oil marketing companies trading in the green.

Improvement in market sentiment is attributed to a number of developments, said market experts.

“The recovery of the rupee against the US dollar in the currency market has boosted market confidence,” said one expert.

“Meanwhile, talks with the IMF mission continue, which is a positive sign as well,” they added.

The analyst said that the market is also expecting the issue of circular debt in the gas sector to be resolved.

A report from Capital Stake stated that bullish sentiments prevailed at the PSX on first trading session of the week.

“Indices accumulated gains all day long, whereas volumes surged from last close,” it said.

Sectors driving the benchmark KSE-100 index north included oil and gas exploration (327.80 points), oil and gas marketing (73.97 points) and banking (68.94 points).

Volume on the all-share index rose to 176.7 million from 105.1 million on Friday. The value of shares traded more than doubled to Rs8.8 billion from Rs4.2 billion recorded in the previous session.

Pakistan Petroleum was the volume leader with 21.8 million shares, followed by Sui Northern Gas Pipelines with 13.4 million shares and Oil and Gas Development Company with 10.6 million shares.

Shares of 332 companies were traded on Monday, of which 198 registered an increase, 107 recorded a fall and 27 remained unchanged.