Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday maintained its sharp upward momentum with the KSE-100 index climbing over 1,000 points to close just shy of 90,000, which marked a new record high, reflecting investor optimism amid favourable earnings announcements and rate cut expectations for the upcoming monetary policy.
The KSE-100 index reached its intra-day high of 90,593.61 well after midday as investors built positions in scores of stocks, particularly blue chips. The market took a dip before close but recovered quickly. However, it ended trading only six points short of the 90k mark.
"Stocks closed at a new all-time high, led by selected blue-chip shares in oil, banking and fertiliser sectors on strong financial results and expected major cut in the key policy rate next week," said Ahsan Mehanti, Managing Director of Arif Habib Corp.
The finance minister's affirmation of plans to privatise state-owned enterprises, rationalising the development programme, seeking $1 billion in the IMF climate fund and surging foreign currency reserves played the role of catalysts in bullish activity at the PSX, he added.
At the close of trading, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a surge of 1,047.98 points, or 1.18%, and settled at 89,993.97.
Topline Securities, in its report, wrote that the KSE-100 index, while continuing its momentum, extended gains by 1.18% to close just shy of the 90,000 psychological level.
Good corporate result announcements provided stimulus to the market, where Pakistan State Oil (PSO) – the highest traded value stock at Rs5.09 billion) announced 3Q2024 earnings per share (EPS) of Rs8.46, which was better than the street estimate, on account of lower-than-expected inventory losses.
Following the result announcement, it garnered investor interest and closed at Rs224.98, up 9.58%, Topline said.
Fauji Cement posted 1QFY25 EPS of Rs1.32, up 23% year-on-year (YoY), following which a rally was observed in the cement sector, led by Attock Cement (+10%), Kohat Cement (+10%), Gharibwal Cement (+9.75%), Fauji Cement (+8%) and Cherat Cement (+6.9%).
Similarly, Abbott Laboratories declared 3Q2024 EPS of Rs18.48, up 191% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ). It triggered a rally in the pharma company, which closed at its upper circuit at 10%.
Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) posted 1QFY25 EPS of Rs9.54, down 16% YoY while up 8% QoQ. The result was accompanied by an interim payout of Rs3 per share. Since the payout was lower than the street estimate, it closed on a flat note, higher by just 0.16%, Topline added.
Arif Habib Limited (AHL), in its report, said that the KSE-100 reached a new all-time high, posting a 5.4% week-on-week (WoW) increase and crossing the 90,000 mark during the day's trading.
Among the leading gainers were Fauji Fertiliser Company, up 4.19%, PSO, which gained 9.62% and MCB Bank, which rose 3.8%. On the other hand, Hub Power fell 3.9%, Interloop Limited dipped 9.7% and Attock Refinery went down 3.98%, which were the largest drags on the index.
Among corporate results, Millat Tractors reported EPS of Rs2.97 for 1QFY25, reflecting a 75% YoY decline. The drop was attributed to lower sales volumes due to the reduced purchasing power of farmers, which was impacted by the challenging economic conditions and increased tractor prices, AHL added.
JS Global analyst Mohammed Waqar Iqbal said the KSE-100 index surged 1.2% to close at a record high of 89,994, with increased trading value indicating a strong momentum and rising activity in large caps.
"We expect this upward trend to continue, supported by positive political developments and macroeconomic news. The government has applied to the IMF for a $1 billion Climate Finance facility and secured a $3 billion, three-year commodities' financing from the ITFC," he said.
Although political factors such as the release of opposition leader Imran Khan were in focus, the liquidity in exploration and production, fertiliser and cement sectors continued to drive market activity, the analyst added.
Overall trading volumes decreased to 695.5 million shares compared with Thursday's tally of 757.6 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs37.9 billion.
Shares of 457 companies were traded. Of these, 181 stocks closed higher, 222 fell and 54 remained unchanged.
Fauji Foods was the volume leader with trading in 57.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.78 to close at Rs10.01. It was followed by K-Electric with 41.4 million shares, losing Rs0.24 to close at Rs4.58 and Sui Southern Gas Company with 38.04 million shares, gaining Rs1.03 to close at Rs11.98.
During the day, foreign investors sold shares worth Rs845 million, according to the NCCPL.
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