IMF loan, payout hopes drive PSX to record

KSE-100 index jumps 680.78 points, settles at 80,233.67

KARACHI:

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) marked another historic day on Wednesday as it broke record and crossed the 80,000-point mark, buoyed by expectations of handsome dividend payouts and clinching a loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in about a month.

The upward momentum was also driven by trade numbers, which showed an increase of 10.54% in exports to $30.7 billion and the narrowing of trade deficit by 12.3% to $24.09 billion in the just-ended fiscal year 2023-24.

Earlier, trading commenced with a spike as investors snapped stocks over hopes of securing a new IMF programme. The KSE-100 index reached its intra-day high of 80,405.24 points at midday.

The market saw heavy buying in cement, chemical, banking, oil and gas exploration and oil marketing sectors. Resultantly, the index added around 680 points to its tally.

“Stocks closed at an all-time high during the corporate earnings season. The market was also buoyed by the upbeat data of exports which rose 10.54% to $30.7 billion while trade deficit narrowed 12.3% to $24.09 billion in FY24,” said Ahsan Mehanti, MD of Arif Habib Corp.

“Government’s timelines for the privatisation of state enterprises and expectations of robust corporate payouts were the major catalysts behind record close at the PSX.”

At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a surge of 680.78 points, or 0.86%, and settled at 80,233.67.

Topline Securities, in its report, said the KSE-100 index surpassed the 80,000 mark, reaching its intra-day high of +852 points before closing at 80,234.

In the cement sector, Kohat Cement, Pioneer Cement, Lucky Cement and Maple Leaf Cement continued their upward trend, it said. Domestic cement sales decreased 4.6% to 38.18 million tonnes in FY24, while exports soared 56% to 7.11 million tonnes.

The banking sector also saw a strong investor interest, with Samba Bank, Askari Bank, the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and JS Bank ending the day positively. Key positive contributors were HBL, Pakistan Oilfields, Hubco, NBP and Systems Limited, which collectively added 388 points, Topline said.

Arif Habib Limited (AHL), in its report, highlighted that the KSE-100 index broke above the 80,000 mark. Some 65 shares advanced while 31 declined with HBL (+5.15%), Pakistan Oilfields (+4.35%) and Hubco (+1.69%) leading the index’s gains.

The finance ministry expects Pakistan to secure a staff-level agreement with the IMF for a bailout package exceeding $6 billion this month. “Looking ahead, the 80,000 level is expected to serve as a support for potential upward movement in the remaining week,” AHL added.

JS Global analyst Mubashir Anis Naviwala wrote in his review that bulls ruled for the third consecutive day, helping the KSE-100 gain more than 850 points in intra-day trading.

Positive activity was seen across all sectors and the index eventually settled at 80,234, up 681 points day-on-day, he said.

“We recommend investors to view any downside as an opportunity to buy stocks in the cement, exploration and production, and technology sectors,” the analyst added.

Overall trading volumes increased to 536.6 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 413.2 million. The value of shares traded during the day stood at Rs22.7 billion.

Shares of 447 companies were traded. Of these, 256 stocks closed higher, 135 fell and 56 remained unchanged.

Pak Elektron was the volume leader with trading in 34.6 million shares, gaining Rs1.72 to close at Rs26.75. It was followed by The Bank of Punjab with 31.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.37 to close at Rs5.40 and NBP with 21.2 million shares, gaining Rs2.89 to close at Rs44.33.

Foreign investors bought shares worth Rs994.8 million, according to the NCCPL.