KARACHI:
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), while shattering records, set an unprecedented pace of rapid growth as the KSE-100 index surged a massive 3,134 points on Thursday, surpassing the 108,000 mark.
The rally was powered by a combination of positive economic indicators and investor optimism. The annual inflation rate fell to 4.9% in November, its lowest level in six years, while the trade deficit shrank 19% year-on-year (YoY) to $1.59 billion.
Those developments sparked hopes for a current account surplus and further strengthened confidence in the market’s future.
The rally was broad-based, with strong gains across key sectors including energy, fertiliser and commercial banks. Major companies in those sectors played a pivotal role in driving the market forward.
Analyst Tahir Abbas commented that the PSX achieved another milestone as market activity surged to a 19-year high and the traded value touched Rs63 billion, or $227 million. It marked the highest activity in the regular market since April 17, 2006.
“Stocks closed at a record high, led by across-the-board activity, as investors eyed an imminent easing of monetary policy amid lower inflation and robust economic indicators,” Arif Habib Corp MD Ahsan Mehanti commented.
“Rupee stability, falling lending rates, and the decreasing government debt stock and bond yields were the key drivers behind the record close at the PSX,” he added.
At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE-100 index soared 3,134.63 points, or 2.98%, to 108,238.97.
Topline Securities, in its commentary, wrote that the stock market witnessed another exhilarating session as the bullish momentum continued unabated.
The KSE-100 index surged to the intra-day high of 3,241 points, fuelled by heightened investor confidence and robust market sentiment surrounding expectations of a substantial rate cut in the upcoming monetary policy meeting, scheduled for December 16, it said.
