KARACHI: A bullish trend continued as the Pakistan Stock Exchange hit new highest-ever levels with impressive gains, trading volumes and value on the back of heightened investor optimism surrounding a potential substantial rate cut in the upcoming monetary policy meeting.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 1,284.13 points or 1.24 percent and closed at its new highest-ever level of 104,559.07 points. The index hit 104,680.89 points intraday high.
Trading activity also improved significantly as total daily volumes on ready counter increased to 1,766.474 million shares as compared to 1,556.252 million shares traded on Monday. The daily traded value on the ready counter increased to Rs 56.624 billion against previous session’s Rs 47.097 billion.
BRIndex100 increased by 119.87 points or 1.08 percent to close at 11,215.85 points with total daily turnover of 1,497.297 million shares.
BRIndex30 soared by 395.8 points or 1.19 percent to close at 33,650.38 points with total daily trading volumes of 908.453 million shares.
Foreign investors however remained on the selling side and withdrew $1.362 million from the local equity market. Total market capitalization increased by Rs 145 billion to Rs 13.252 trillion. Out of total 465 active scrips, 271 closed in positive and 160 in negative while the value of 34 stocks remained unchanged.
Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with 246.707 million shares and gained Rs 1.00 to close at Rs 6.72 followed by WorldCall Telecom that closed at Rs 1.47, up Rs 0.01 with 89.419 million shares. Hascol Petroleum increased by Rs 1.19 to close at Rs 14.68 with 87.024 million shares.
Unilever Pakistan Foods and Nestle Pakistan were the top gainers increasing by Rs 65.10 and Rs 48.51 respectively to close at Rs 19,865.11 and Rs 6,681.38 while Hafiz Limited and Indus Motor Company were the top losers declining by Rs 21.31 and Rs 20.65 respectively to close at Rs 262.50 and Rs 2,005.94.
An analyst at Topline Securities said that the bulls firmly took charge as the KSE-100 Index soared, reaching remarkable new milestones. The trade value in the ready market climbed to an impressive Rs 57 billion ($203 million), marking the highest level in 18 years. This bullish momentum is largely attributed to heightened investor optimism surrounding a potential substantial rate cut in the upcoming monetary policy meeting scheduled for December 16, 2024.
Adding to the positive sentiment, Pakistan’s trade deficit for November 2024 contracted by 19 percent year-on-year to $1.59 billion, supported by a rise in exports and a decline in imports. This improvement has bolstered expectations of a robust current account surplus, further uplifting market confidence.
Key drivers of the index’s rally included heavyweights such as ENGRO, MARI, POL, FFC, and DAWH, collectively contributing plus 658 points. Conversely, notable laggards like HBL, SYS, MEBL, CHCC, and PPL trimmed 169 points from the index.
BR Automobile Assembler Index lost 21.66 points or 0.11 percent to close at 19,178.80 points with total turnover of 8.616 million shares.
BR Cement Index increased by 164.66 points or 1.51 percent to close at 11,047.32 points with 174.308 million shares.
BR Commercial Banks Index added 108.49 points or 0.37 percent to close at 29,252.67 points with 127.058 million shares.
BR Power Generation and Distribution Index gained 14.19 points or 0.09 percent to close at 16,653.02 points with 70.459 million shares.
BR Oil and Gas Index surged by 221.38 points or 2.2 percent to close at 10,274.78 points with 186.469 million shares.
BR Tech. & Comm. Index inched up by 12.45 points or 0.25 percent to close at 5,069.43 points with 248.039 million shares.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said stocks bullish led by scrips across the board as investors eye big policy rate cut next week after CPI inflation fell to six-year low.
He said upbeat data on $8.65 billion trade deficit narrowing by 7.4 percent, $13.69 billion exports up by 12.57 percent for July-November 2024 and Pak-Rupee stability played catalytic role in record surge at PSX.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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