Positive sentiment prevailed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained nearly 400 points during the first trading session of fiscal year 2024-25 on Monday.
During the day, positive momentum pushed the benchmark index to an intra-day high of 79,536.23, a gain of 1,091.26 points.
However, profit-taking in the final hours of trading trimmed the gains. At close, the KSE-100 index settled at 78,824.33, an increase of 379.37 points or 0.48%.
Buying was witnessed in key sectors including cement, commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration companies and OMCs.
Index-heavy stocks including SNGPL, SSGC, PPL, OGDC, HBL, MCB and NBP were in the green.
The buying comes as market participants remain optimistic that authorities in Islamabad would reach a staff-level-agreement (SLA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the coming days.
“Investor optimism surged, driven by expectations that the approval of the new budget would facilitate the disbursement of an IMF loan,” said Capital Stake in its report on Monday.
In a key development, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb on Sunday expressed optimism that Pakistan would secure a “larger and longer” bailout agreement in its negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July, following the approval of the $67.76 billion federal budget.
Pakistan began discussions about a new loan with IMF officials soon after completing a $3 billion program that helped the country stave off a sovereign debt default last year.
The PSX emerged as the best performing equity market in the world during fiscal year 2023-24 after its benchmark KSE-100 Index closed the final session at 78,444.96 on Friday, compared to 41,452.69 in the previous fiscal.
Globally, Asian stocks were subdued on Monday as traders pondered the U.S rates outlook, while the euro rose after the first-round voting in France’s shock snap election was won by the far-right, albeit with a smaller share than some polls had projected.
The shock vote has unsettled markets as the far-right, as well as the left-wing alliance that came second on Sunday, have pledged big spending increases at a time when France’s high budget deficit has prompted the EU to recommend disciplinary steps.
In Asia, the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.07% higher, to kick off the second half of the year having risen 7% so far in 2024. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.57%.
Volume on the all-share index decreased to 306.04 million from 347.67 million in the previous session.
However, the value of shares rose to Rs13.7 billion from Rs11.9 billion in the last session.
PTCL was the volume leader with 30.2 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 17.35 million shares, and Faysal Bank with 13.62 million shares.
Shares of 425 companies were traded on Monday, of which 183 registered an increase, 186 recorded a fall, while 56 remained unchanged.
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