Karachi, October 25, 2024: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw a Bullish session on Friday as well when the benchmark KSE-100 index closed at very just below the psychologically coveted mark of 90,000. The index touched this milestone intra-day before resuming a close of 89,993.97 after having an intraday high of 90,593.61, that is up 1,047.98 points, or 1.18%.
Overall, a huge inflow of investment kept the market dominated by bulls. Though sectors like automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertilizers, oil and gas exploration companies, and OMCs performed very good, good buying was seen in stocks during the day. The notable counters that showed good performance were OGDC, PPL, SSGC, NBP, and MEBL, all of which brought gains in the day.
The causes, analysts feel, have been rising economic indicators along with the expectation of a massive cut by the State Bank of Pakistan in its forthcoming Monetary Policy Committee meeting on November 4, 2024. A minimum of 200 basis points cut is being expected owing to softening of inflationary pressures. The CPI inflation has stood at 6.9% for September and is likely to be flat in October at between 6.5 % and 7%.
PSX, Tuesday saw aggressive buying mainly from the local investors that sent the index up by 1,751.45 points or 2.01% to close at a record 88,945.99 points. For the second week running now, institutional and retail investors are getting pulled into the market’s upward trend.
China’s stocks opened level in global markets as investors await the details of Beijing’s fiscal stimulus and US poll results. However, Japan’s Nikkei share average marked its decline as investors fear a change in political power.
The Pakistani rupee also mirrored strength against the US dollar, appreciating by 0.07% in the inter-bank market and closing at 277.64, compared to its previous Re0.20.
The all-share index was traded with a volume that declined to 695.54 million shares from 757.65 million shares of the previous day. Despite a decline in volume, the value of shares rose to Rs37.87 billion compared with Rs36.05 billion in the previous session. In terms of volume, Fauji Foods Ltd was highest at 57.56 million followed by K-Electric Ltd at 41.40 million and Sui South Gas, which faced a volume of 38.04 million.
Of the 457 firms traded Friday, 181 offered to watch as their shares prices rose, 222 dropped, and 54 stayed unchanged- a reflection of mixed sentiments among the diversified investors in this vigorous market.