KARACHI: A rare record-breaking spree continued in the fag-end of Ramazan on the back of aggressive value-hunting by jubilant investors, tossing the KSE 100-share index to an all-time high closing above 68,000 on Thursday.

Topline Securities Ltd Chief Executive Muhammad Suhail told Dawn that the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) normally sees low volume and lacklustre activities in Ramazan. Still, due to political stability post-election and other developments, the market is touching new highs as expected, he added.

“Overall economic activities are showing signs of stabilisation. Inflation is finally coming down from 38 per cent to 20.7pc in March while the rupee has remained stable in the last year,” he explained, adding that all this signals that the new government will be able to secure an IMF deal boosting investor confidence.

Buying interest was observed in the pharmaceutical sector on news that the Lahore High Court had vacated the stay order against the deregulation of the maximum retail price of drugs in favour of the pharmaceutical industry. As a result, multiple pharma companies closed at their respective upper limits.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation told Dawn that the equities market closed at an all-time high in the holy month due to a robust corporate earnings outlook.

He said the expected monetary policy easing, $1bn Saudi Reko Diq deal next month, Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd share offerings, surging global crude oil prices and anticipation of positive talks for new IMF programme were the key triggers fuelling bullish sentiments.

Answering a question about the expected hike in electricity tariffs under IMF conditions, he said the power tariff would further rise to resolve the circular debt crisis, and the IMF would seek more solutions to avoid a slowdown in economic growth owing to surging energy costs.

Regarding the chances of economic optimism’s sustainability in view of the likely heating up of political issues after Eidul Fitr, Mr Ahsan said political noise and economic uncertainty are the new normal for the geopolitical scenario and could be an opportunity to prioritise sectors.

He added that reforms for tax revenue and power sector issues could be the next target for the government to manage fiscal deficits.

“Retail investors should take a longer-term view up to two years when interest rates could be in single digits and high dividends paying stocks should be priority owing to political and economic uncertainty, he advised.

The benchmark index hit an intraday record high of 68,439.37, gaining 683.34 points. However, it closed at 67,756.04 points after adding 660.75 points, or 0.98 per cent from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume rose 7.44pc to 388.75 million shares. The traded value surged 50.26pc to Rs17.88bn on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Ltd (47.20m shares), Cnergyico PK (29.71m shares), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (21.12m shares), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (16.96m shares) and Searle Company (15.79m shares).

The companies registering the major increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Hoechst Pakistan Ltd (Rs49.50), Shahmurad Sugar Mills Ltd (Rs40.61), Highnoon Labor­atories Ltd (Rs38.17), Abbott Labor­atories Ltd (Rs34.84) and Mari Petroleum Ltd (Rs26.24).

The shares registering the most significant decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Rafhan Maize Products Company Ltd (Rs80.00), Nestle Pakistan (Rs33.44), Lucky Core Industries Ltd (Rs8.65), Lucky Cement Ltd (Rs7.58) and Shield Corporation (Rs5.18)

Foreign investors remained net buyers as they picked shares worth $1.06m.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2024