In a landmark development, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday surged past the 119,000 milestone in intra-day movements as the KSE-100 index maintained its winning streak for the sixth straight day with an increase of nearly 800 points to a new record high.
The jump in stock prices sparked optimism through the financial sector and even prompted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to issue a statement to welcome the unprecedented advance of the market. PM Sharif, while expressing his satisfaction over the historic milestone, remarked that the positive direction of the PSX reflected the growing confidence of traders and investors in the government's economic policies.
He said that economic indicators and business environment had improved over the past one year, adding that the government was providing all facilities on a priority basis to create a positive environment for business and investment.
AKD Securities Director Research Awais Ashraf told The Express Tribune that several economic events, including the prospect of securing the second loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility, bolstered investor confidence and sparked a rally in the stock market. Other positive triggers were the approval of electricity price reduction, tax target relaxation and the potential resolution of circular debt problem. Additionally, foreign investment flows to sectors like mining and automobile contributed to the strong performance of key stocks, he said.
Topline Securities CEO Mohammed Sohail echoed similar views, attributing the surge to optimism about the soon-to-be-finalised IMF's staff-level agreement and the government's efforts to settle the longstanding circular debt, which would help the cash flow of companies in emerging sectors.
At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a rise of 795.74 points, or 0.67%, and settled at 118,769.77.
In his brief note, Arif Habib Corp MD Ahsan Mehanti commented that stocks reached the all-time-high, led by blue chips, as investors weighed the IMF's conditional readiness to approve a Rs1.5-trillion circular debt management plan and projections of thin inflation for March 2025.
Besides, the government's deliberations on privatisation of state-owned enterprises and expectations of the IMF's approval for a reduction in industrial power tariffs played the role of catalysts in bullish close at the PSX, he added.
Topline Securities reported that the stock market continued its bullish momentum, reaching record high levels with the highest trading value in nearly two months.
The strong upward movement was largely driven by aggressive buying from local mutual funds as investor confidence remained high on expectations of an imminent IMF review approval, it said.
Mari Petroleum stole the limelight and enjoyed a staggering trading value of Rs7.17 billion over investor speculation about some announcement in its board meeting scheduled for Friday, Topline added.
Arif Habib Limited (AHL) stated that the KSE-100 index hit a new intra-day high, which extended to 119.4k.
A total of 46 shares rose, while 48 declined. Mari Petroleum (+8.99%), Systems Limited (+5.29%) and Pakistan Petroleum (+1.38%) were the top contributors to the index gains. Conversely, United Bank (-0.7%), Bank AL Habib (-0.72%) and Engro Holdings (-1.14%) were the major drags, it said.
AHL pointed out that Systems Limited was set to announce its CY24 results on Friday, with expectations of earnings per share (EPS) of Rs26.8, down 10% year-on-year.
"The momentum remains strong because the KSE-100 is up 2.8% week-on-week while heading into the final session of the week," it added.
According to JS Global analyst Muhammad Hasan Ather, investors remained on the buying side amid hopes of a successful visit of PM Sharif to Saudi Arabia and likely approval of the IMF's loan tranche.
Buying was mainly led by oil & gas, power and fertiliser sectors. The index touched the intra-day high of 119,422 (+1,447 points) and the low of 118,444 (-470 points), he said.
Ather advised investors to adopt a cautious stance, book profits at higher levels and buy on dips mainly in oil & gas and technology sectors.
KTrade Securities, in its market wrap, noted that the upward trajectory was led by technology, oil & gas, fertiliser and refinery sectors. It anticipated that the market's long-term prospects would remain positive, driven by improving economic fundamentals and progress on the IMF review.
Overall trading volumes increased to 667.9 million shares compared with Wednesday's tally of 544.2 million.
Overall, shares of 442 companies were traded. Of these, 205 stocks closed higher, 176 fell and 61 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day stood at Rs38.5 billion.
Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with trading in 164 million shares, rising Rs0.71 to close at Rs8.21. It was followed by The Bank of Punjab with 45.9 million shares, losing Rs0.49 to close at Rs11.63 and Pakistan Refinery with 45.1 million shares, gaining Rs2.77 to close at Rs39.13.
Despite the market's surge to record, foreign investors sold shares worth Rs720.8 million, the NCCPL reported.
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