The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a bullish trend on Monday as its benchmark KSE-100 Index gained nearly 800 points in anticipation of the monetary policy announcement.
The bulls maintained their grip in the market since the start of the session with expectation of a cut in the policy rate.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 78,827.74, up by 798.23 points or 1.02%.
In line with expectations, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reduced the key policy rate by 100 basis points, taking it to 19.5%.
“We have noted that the inflation is on a declining trend,” SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad said as he addressed a press conference.
In its post-market report, brokerage house Ismail Iqbal Securities said the equity market ended on a positive note on Monday, buoyed by anticipation of the policy rate and supported by Fitch Rating’s upgrade of Pakistan’s Long-Term Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating to ‘CCC+’ from ‘CCC’.
“The upgrade reflects greater certainty over continued availability of external funding, in the context of Pakistan’s staff-level agreement (SLA) with the IMF on a new 37-month $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF),” Fitch said in a statement, issued during market hours, on Monday.
Meanwhile, Waves Home Appliances Limited (WAVESAPP), a Pakistani manufacturer of home appliances, said it received a proposal for strategic alliance/JV (joint venture) from a global appliances player.
WAVESAPP did not disclose the name of the foreign company.
“Following the improvements in the economic conditions of the country, the company has received an intention for strategic alliance/JV from a foreign global player(s),” read the notice.
Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL), an oil and gas exploration company, also announced the discovery of hydrocarbon reserves at its Razgir-1 exploratory well located in Kohat district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The listed company, which is a subsidiary of Attock Oil Company Limited, UK and its ultimate parent is Coral Holding Limited, shared the development in its notice to the bourse.
“As per information received from MOL, the operator of TAL block, hydrocarbons have been discovered in exploratory well Razgir-1, which was spudded on January 09, 2024 and has been drilled down to the depth of 3,950 meter,” read the notice.
Sectors contributing in the positive run included banks, E&Ps, fertiliser, cement, pharma, auto, and technology.
Globally, Asian shares bounced on Monday into a week packed with earnings and a trio of central bank meetings that could see the United States and UK open the door to easing, while Japan might lift borrowing costs in a step toward “normality”.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered a marginal decline, depreciating 0.06% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Monday. At close, the currency settled at 278.5, a loss of Re0.16, against the greenback.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 371.09 million from 278.33 million a session ago.
The value of shares jumped to Rs19.16 billion from Rs11.62 billion in the previous session.
Waves Home App was the volume leader with 27.93 million shares, followed by Al-Shaheer Corp with 15.55 million shares, and Dewan Motors with 14.27 million shares.
Shares of 437 companies were traded on Monday, of which 252 registered an increase, 129 recorded a fall, while 56 remained unchanged.
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