PSX breaks another record amid heavy trading

KSE-100 index surges 800.35 points, settles at 64,718.08

KARACHI:

The extensive bullish run continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, which jumped to another record high, as the country’s economy was constantly showing signs of improvement ahead of the release of second International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan tranche.

News report about potential Chinese investment worth $1.5 billion in Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) encouraged market players, who resorted to heavy buying.

Moreover, investors were also inspired by the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) project financing of around $650 million for Pakistan.

Earlier, trading started on a positive note and by midday the KSE-100 index soared to the day’s high at 64,958.10. However, it triggered profit-taking, which pulled the index down gradually to the intra-day low at 63,853.04.

Immediately afterwards, the bulls took over control and pushed the index close to the intra-day high towards the close of trading.

“Stocks closed at a new all-time high amid record trading on a robust earnings outlook,” said Arif Habib Corp MD Ahsan Mehanti.

“High banking spreads, reports of Chinese firm’s interest in buying 30% of Pakistan State Oil’s stake in PRL for expansion of the refinery, approval of ADB’s $659 million project funding and a strong rupee played the role of catalysts in new record close at the PSX.” At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded significant gains of 800.35 points, or 1.25%, and settled at 64,718.08.

Topline Securities commented that Pakistan equities maintained their upward momentum, securing a sixth consecutive day of gains. “The index exhibited volatility, fluctuating between a low of 63,853 and a high of 64,958,” it said.

Early session witnessed substantial buying, propelling the index close to the 65,000 mark. However, a temporary decline occurred due to profit-taking, which took the index to the low of 63,853.

Read: PSX shatters record again, crosses 64,000 mark

Buyers re-entered the market, pushing the index back towards the intra-day high, ultimately concluding the day at 64,718, up 800 points, it said. Healthy contribution came from exploration and production (E&P), oil marketing companies and bank sectors with Bank AL Habib, Mari Petroleum, Meezan Bank, Pakistan State Oil and Bank Alfalah adding 483 points, Topline added.

Arif Habib Limited (AHL), in its report, wrote that the bourse stood at a touching distance of 65k with one session to go in the week. Heavyweight stocks outperformed while high beta names closed down.

The advancers-to-decliners ratio appeared more balanced at 57:41, which was reflective of blue chips outperforming the market.

Key index movers were Bank AL Habib (+6.84%), Mari Petroleum (+6.75%) and Meezan Bank (+4.41%) while major drags were Hub Power (-1.04%), Lucky Cement (-1.37%) and Systems Limited (-1.09%), AHL added.

JS Global analyst Mubashir Anis Naviwala said that bullish trend continued as the PSX crossed the 64,900 level.

“Going forward, we expect the bullish trend to continue and recommend investors to view any downtrend as an opportunity to buy stocks in banking, cement and E&P sectors,” the analyst added.

Overall trading volumes increased to 1.3 billion shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 984.8 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs37.2 billion.

Shares of 402 companies were traded. Of these, 216 stocks closed higher, 167 dropped and 19 remained unchanged.

K-Electric was the volume leader with trading in 246 million shares, gaining Rs0.45 to close at Rs3.97. It was followed by Cnergyico PK with 98.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.22 to close at Rs5.07 and Hascol Petroleum with 60.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.14 to close at Rs6.83.

Foreign investors were net buyers of shares worth Rs1.2 billion, according to the NCCPL.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2023.

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