Stocks reach historic high above 93,000

Better economic indicators fuel advance as index gains 771 points

KARACHI:

In a historic rally, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday soared past the 93,000-point mark for the first time ever, taking cue from rising global equities and falling local lending rates.

Another major trigger was the increase in Pakistan's weight in the MSCI Frontier Market Small Cap Index, which would attract foreign investors.

Earlier, the day began with a wave of optimism and after the midday break, the KSE-100 index swiftly advanced to the intra-day of 93,514.56.

The remarkable strength of the market reflected growing optimism about Pakistan's economic outlook, particularly due to expectations of ratings upgrade and ongoing reforms. Those factors fuelled investor confidence, driving the market to new highs.

Buying activity was mainly observed across key sectors including automobile manufacturing, cement, commercial banking, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration, and power generation.

"Stocks hit a new all-time high amid bull-run in global equities and higher 4.4% weight for Pakistan on the MSCI index attracting foreign interest," said Ahsan Mehanti, MD of Arif Habib Corp.

"Falling bank lending rates and government bond yields played the role of catalysts in record close at the PSX," he added.

At the close of trading, the benchmark KSE-100 index displayed a surge of 771.19 points, or 0.83%, and settled at 93,291.68.

Topline Securities, in its commentary, wrote that the KSE-100 index continued its momentum to close at 93,292, up 0.83%, as a decline in yields on fixed income instruments and the improvement in macroeconomic indicators continued to garner investor interest.

The inflow of workers' remittances in October 2024 came in at $3.052 billion, a surge of 24% year-on-year and 7% month-on-month, it said.

Investor participation increased with traded volume and value standing at 763 million shares, up 13%, and Rs30.2 billion, up 22%, respectively, Topline added.

Arif Habib Limited (AHL), in its report, stated that the KSE-100 unlocked the 93,000 mark with a strong 2.7% gain week-on-week.

On Friday, the biggest contributors to the index gains were Oil and Gas Development Company (+4.47%), Hub Power (+2.56%) and Pakistan State Oil (+4.79%), it said.

On the other hand, Lucky Cement (-1.4%), United Bank Limited (-0.68%) and MCB Bank (-0.97%) were the largest drags.

In corporate news, the Lahore High Court approved the scheme of arrangement between Nishat Chunian Power Limited and Nishat Chunian Limited, effective from November 1, 2024.

Notable movers for the day included Attock Refinery (+8.68%), Attock Cement (+8.31%) and Pak Elektron (+6.17%), which posted impressive gains.

Looking ahead, the KSE-100 was expected to find support in the 90,500-91,500 range, AHL added.

JS Global analyst Mubashir Anis Naviwala commented that the KSE-100 reached an all-time high of 93,292, posting a gain of 771 points.

The market started strong, hitting the intra-day peak of 93,515. Investor interest surged, particularly in cement, exploration and production, and fertiliser sectors, he said.

The analyst recommended a buy-on-dips strategy, focusing on cement, fertiliser, auto, exploration and production, and tech sectors.

Overall trading volumes increased to 763.3 million shares compared with Thursday's tally of 678.8 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs30.2 billion.

Shares of 446 companies were traded. Of these, 243 stocks closed higher, 146 fell and 57 remained unchanged.

The Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with trading in 66.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.19 to close at Rs6.76. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 51.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.04 to close at Rs1.27 and Pak Elektron with 44.2 million shares, gaining Rs1.56 to close at Rs26.86.

During the day, foreign investors sold shares worth Rs700 million, according to the NCCPL.