KARACHI:
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) rose to a fresh record high on Wednesday as investors awaited a positive outcome of technical assessment talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and approval of $600 million in loans from China to bridge the financing gap.
In the morning, trading started at an intraday low of 53,720.45 points, after closing lower in the previous session. However, the KSE-100 index immediately gained momentum to hit an intraday high of 54,419.65 well before midday on investor interest in a wide range of stocks.
In addition, optimism about political stability in the wake of general elections scheduled for February 8, 2024 also played a role in the index’s rise, as did the government’s efforts to resolve the cyclical debt crisis in the natural gas sector.
As a result, the bourse quickly crossed the 54,000 mark with key sectors like power, fertilizers, banks and autos contributing to the positive momentum.
Since hitting the intraday high, the KSE-100 traded above the 54,000 mark for the rest of the session and eventually closed near that level with handsome gains.
“Stocks hit a fresh all-time high as investors weighed positive Pakistan-IMF technical review talks and the approval of $600 million in Chinese loans this month,” said Arif Habib Corp MD Ahsan Mehanti.
“Speculation ahead of the February 8 general election and the government’s discussions on resolving the cyclical debt crisis also played the role of catalysts in the market closing higher.”
The KSE-100 ended up 525.70 points, or 0.98%, at 54,261.43.
Topline Securities, in its report, said that Pakistan’s stock market regained its upward momentum after a short-lived fall in the previous session.
Reading In a remarkable rally, PSX breaks records
“Positive momentum was fueled by the power, fertilizer, banking and auto sectors with companies such as Hub Power, Engro Corporation, Meezan Bank, Habib Bank and Millat Tractors collectively contributing 208 points to the index,” it said.
On the other hand, Indus Motor, TRG Pakistan and Pak Elektron together caused a loss of 54 points, Topline added.
Arif Habib Limited (AHL), in its review, commented that there were more gains for the Pakistan market which closed above 54,000.
“Hub Power (+1.64%) led gains while Indus Motor (-5.42%) contributed the most to the decline,” it said, adding that 28.3% year-to-date gains showed that the KSE-100 is heading for its best year since 2016.
Among the positive news, AHL reported hopes that a deal to sell a stake to Saudi Arabia in Reko Diq, one of the world’s largest gold and copper mining projects, would be reached by December.
Total trading volume fell to 482.7 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 506.1 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs 20.1 billion.
Shares of 374 companies were traded. Of these, 234 stocks closed higher, 118 declined and 22 remained unchanged.
Pakistan Refinery was the volume leader with 40.3 million shares, gaining Rs 1.01 to close at Rs 22.68. It was followed by Cnergyico PK with 38.4 million shares, gaining Rs 0.16 to close at Rs 4.31 and Hum Network with 31.2 million shares, gaining Rs 0.42 to close at Rs 6.72.
Foreign investors were net sellers of shares worth Rs 583.1 million, according to NCCPL.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 9u2023.
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