KARACHI: On the back of multiple positive economic numbers, the stock market maintained its overnight bull run, tossing the KSE-100 index to its highest-ever level by closing above the 71,000-point level on Monday.

Listing the significant developments fuelling the bullish market sentiments, Topline Securities Ltd Chief Executive Muha­mmad Suhail said the country posted a record single-month current account surplus of $619 million in almost nine years, foreign direct investment surged to a 20-month high of $258m and the IT exports peaked at an all-time high of $306m in March.

According to Topline Securities, the following sectors, such as oil and gas exploration, banks, fertilisers, and cement, drove the index’s upward movement. Companies like Mari Petroleum Ltd, United Bank Ltd, Engro Fertilisers Ltd, Lucky Cement and Oil and Gas Development Company collectively contributed 351 points to the index performance.

However, Hub Power, Bank Al-Habib and EPCL collected wiped out 57 points. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation attributed the rally to robust corporate earnings season and rising expectations of a cut in the State Bank of Pakistan’s policy rate in its upcoming Monetary Policy Committee meeting on April 29 following a sharp deceleration in the headline inflation to 20.7pc in March.

He added that the deliberations on privatisation of state-owned enterprises, rupee stability amid foreign inflows and progress on the new Extended Fund Facility as an IMF team will be visiting next month to proceed further on Pakistan’s loan request also contributed to the market’s highest closing ever.

However, the index moved both ways, dipping to the day’s low at 70,882.45, losing 27.46 points, and a high of 71,861.18, gaining 951.28 points. As a result, the benchmark KSE 100 index closed at 71,433.46 points after adding 523.56 points, or 0.74pc from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume surged 37.69pc to 655.20 million shares. The traded value also rose 34.57pc to Rs31.24bn on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Habib Bank Ltd (48.14m shares), Pak Refinery Ltd (30.50m shar­es), Pak Elektron Ltd (28.59m shares), Worldcall Tele­com Ltd (24.62m sha­res) and K-Electric (23.58m shares).

The companies registering the major increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (Rs133.51), Ismail Indu­stries (Rs76.35), Hallmark Company Ltd (Rs60.00), Nestle Pakistan Ltd (Rs52.01) and Sazgar Engin­eering Works Ltd (Rs41.63).

The shares registering the most significant decre­ases in their share prices in absolute terms were Unile­ver Foods Ltd (Rs366.66), Sapphire Fibres (Rs69.90), Philip Morris Pakistan Ltd (Rs54.30), Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs40.00), Shahmurad Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs36.03).

Foreign investors continued their buying spree and picked shares worth $1.19m.

Published in Dawn, April 23nd, 2024