The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued to see a bullish trend and its benchmark KSE-100 Index hit a fresh peak, crossing the 70,000-point mark for the first time in history on Tuesday.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 70,314.72, up by 694.73 points or 1.00%. This is now its highest closing in history.
The KSE-100 has been on a winning run for the past few weeks, hitting record highs as investors count on a monetary easing cycle amid lower inflation figures, higher dollar inflows, and a general improved sentiment on Pakistan’s economy.
Arif Habib Limited expects KSE-100 to hit 81,000 by December 2024
Gains at the KSE-100 have been diverse with cement, banks, autos, and energy sector shares all contributing to the rally.
On Tuesday, buying was witnessed in automobile assemblers, commercial banks, and oil and gas exploration companies, with index-heavy stocks of PPL, OGDC, PSO, SNGPL, MEBL, and HCAR trading in the green as well.
“Pakistan market crosses 70k mark amid positive news on Saudi investment and deposits,” said Mohammed Sohail, CEO of Topline Securities, in a note.
“Continuous foreign buying also helping equities. KSE-100 is now up almost 70% from June end,” he added.
His reference to Saudi investment comes after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia affirmed their commitment to expediting the first wave of an investment package worth $5 billion, and also emphasised the Kingdom’s supportive role in Pakistan’s economy and the mutual desire to strengthen trade and investment ties.
On Monday, bullish momentum had taken the bourse to new heights as the benchmark KSE-100 settled at its then-highest-ever closing at 69,620.
Globally, industrial metals prices extended their gains on Tuesday with expectations of a worldwide manufacturing rebound, while Asian shares crept up a little more cautiously ahead of this week’s US inflation data and a crucial European Central Bank meeting.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2%. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.6%.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee remained largely stable against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the local unit settled at 277.94, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback, as per the State Bank of Pakistan.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 389.4 million from 335.8 million a session ago.
The value of shares rose to Rs17.27 billion from Rs15.31 billion in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 34.37 million shares, followed by Pak Int.Bulk with 27.82 million shares, and P.I.A.C.(A) with 19.04 million shares.
Shares of 353 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 181 registered an increase, 157 recorded a fall, while 15 remained unchanged.