KSE-100 retreats slightly after closing in on 62,493, still ends 1.28% higher

Bulls continued to dominate proceedings at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark KSE-100 Index crossed the 62,000 level for the first time in history on Monday. The KSE-100 started the day positive and hit an intra-day high of 62,912.61. However, some late-session profit-taking trimmed the gains. At close, the benchmark index settled at 62,493.05, up by 801.80 points or 1.28%.

Across-the-board buying was witnessed with index-heavy shares such as OGDC and PPL gaining more than 4%. Auto assemblers, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refinery were also in the green.

Pak Suzuki hit the upper limit before a stock notice where the majority shareholder proposed the price for share-buyback meant the share price plummeted.

During the previous week, the bourse had continued with its upward rally and hit new record levels on the back of continuous healthy buying by both local and foreign investors coupled with institutional support.

The benchmark index surged by 2,604.90 points on a week-on-week basis and crossed 61,000 level to close at its then-highest-ever level of 61,691.25 points.

The buying spree comes on the back of a staff-level agreement reached between Pakistani authorities and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the first review under the nine-month $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).

Market experts believe improvement in the country’s financial indicators including Kuwait and UAE agreements, $3.0 billion deposit extension by KSA and an expected $2.0 billion inflow from the World Bank in FY24 (albeit with policy-level concerns), above target FBR collections at Rs 3.48billion for the first five months of FY24, have bolstered market sentiments.

In addition, a relatively stable rupee, and expectations that interest rates have already peaked and are now going to be on their way down starting 2024 have diverted flows to the PSX.

The Pakistani rupee continued its upward march against the US dollar for the fifth consecutive session as it appreciated 0.15% in the inter-bank market on Monday. As per the State Bank of Pakistan, the currency settled at 284.53, an increase of Re0.44.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 734.2 million from 531.3 million a session before. The value of shares jumped to Rs31.6 billion from Rs21.5 billion in the previous session. WorldCall Telecom remained the volume leader with 57 million shares, followed by Fauji Cement with 42 million shares and Oil & Gas Dev. with 23.8 million shares.

Shares of 390 companies were traded on Monday, of which 249 registered an increase, 122 recorded a fall, while 19 remained unchanged.