PSX continues its record-breaking spree

KSE-100 index jumps 498.61 points, settles at 76,706.77

KARACHI:

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday extended its rally and soared to another record high as investors were enthused by no announcement about tax hikes on dividends and capital gains, the rupee recovery and plans to launch Eurobond in the international market.

The KSE-100 index surged nearly 500 points with the market finding support from the decline in the government’s treasury bond yields and the potential privatisation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

Though the bourse began trading with a sharp dip, it soon recovered the lost ground and spiked to the intra-day high of 77,310.45 points before midday. The buying spree came as the budget uncertainty about the increase in taxes on capital gains and dividend incomes vanished.

Later, the investors resorted to some profit-taking, but still the market closed above 76,700 points with substantial gains.

“Stocks closed at an all-time high in a post-budget rally as investors weighed the decline in the government’s treasury bond yields, the recovery of the rupee and the status quo for the capital market,” said Ahsan Mehanti, MD of Arif Habib Corp.

“The finance minister’s plan to launch Eurobond of up to $1 billion, a fresh bid to secure $4 billion in foreign bank loans, projections of a massive increase in SOEs’ dividends and their privatisation in FY25 played the role of catalysts in record close at the PSX.”

At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE-100 index registered a surge of 498.61 points, or 0.65%, and settled at 76,706.77.

Topline Securities, in its report, noted that the KSE-100 index surged significantly and reached the intra-day high of 1,102 points, buoyed by the absence of tax hikes on dividends and capital gains for stock market filers, countering market rumours.

During the latter part of the trading session, the investors preferred to book profit before a long weekend on account of Eidul Azha holidays, it said.

Major positive contribution to the index came from banks including Meezan Bank, MCB Bank, Bank Alfalah, United Bank, Bank AL Habib and Habib Bank, which cumulatively added 642 points, Topline noted.

Arif Habib Limited (AHL), in its report, observed that the KSE-100 index saw robust gains of 3.91% week-on-week (WoW) in response to a budget that was milder than anticipated.

Meezan Bank (+4.07%), MCB Bank (+4.49%) and Bank Alfalah (+8.5%) emerged as the biggest contributors to the index gains, it said.

Overall trading volumes decreased to 395.9 million shares against Thursday’s tally of 635.5 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs21.4 billion.

Shares of 439 companies were traded. Of these, 160 stocks closed higher, 205 fell and 74 remained unchanged.

K-Electric was the volume leader with trading in 23.04 million shares, losing Rs0.1 to close at Rs4.62. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 22.4 million shares, losing Rs0.01 to close at Rs1.32 and Air Link Communication with 17.99 million shares, gaining Rs2.13 to close at Rs80.37.

Foreign investors were net buyers of shares worth Rs391.7 million, according to the NCCPL.