KARACHI: Growing optimism about likely major business deals during the visit of a high-powered Saudi trade delegation lifted the benchmark KSE 100-share index to a new all-time high on Monday.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the bullish momentum stemmed from Saudi businesspeople’s meetings with high government officials and local counterparts to explore investment opportunities in various sectors. This follow-up visit is in accordance with Saudi Arabia’s commitment to invest $25 billion over five years in Pakistan.

He added that investors also weighed the sharp deceleration in inflation, which mounted pressure on the State Bank of Pakistan to cut its policy rate and government deliberations over privatising ailing state-owned enterprises, further bolstering sentiments.

He also noted that speculations ahead of Pak-IMF new loan talks and increasing foreign exchange reserves contributed to the record close in the pre-budget rally at PSX.

“The market’s positive sentiment can be attributed to the arrival of a 50-member Saudi team for potential investments in Pakistan, along with expectations of an IMF mission visiting Pakistan this month to discuss a new programme,” said Topline Securities Ltd.

Companies like Dawood Hercules Ltd, Fauji Fertiliser, Engro Corpor­ation, Interloop Ltd and Hub Power Company collectively added 360 points to the index. Conversely, Oil and Gas Development Company, Mari Petroleum, Systems Ltd, Ibrahim Fibres Ltd and National Bank of Pakistan deducted 68 points.

As a result, the index hit an intraday high of 73,060.74 and a low of 70,562.72. However, it closed at an all-time high at 72,764.24 points after adding 862.15 points, or 1.20pc, from the preceding session.

The overall trading volume rose 27.91pc to 578.38 million shares. The traded value, however, eased 0.09pc to Rs24.51bn on a day-on-day basis.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Pak Elektron (48.44m shares), Fauji Cement (40.36m shares), K-Electric Ltd (26.77m shares), Worldcall Telecom Ltd (24.87m shares) and Hascol Petroleum (23.88m shares).

The shares registering the most significant incre­ases in their share prices in absolute terms were Sapphire Textile Ltd (Rs84.42), Unilever Pakis­tan Foods Ltd (Rs67.52), Abbott Labor­atories (Rs41.96), Pak Engin­eering Ltd (Rs33.26) and Sazgar Engineering Works Ltd (Rs33.26)

The companies registering the major decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Hoechst Pakistan Ltd (Rs66.13), Sapphire Fibres Ltd (Rs30.25), Nestle Pakistan (Rs25.11), Ibrahim Fibres (Rs19.80) and Mari Petroleum (Rs17.60).

Foreign investors remained net buyers as they purchased shares worth $1.87m.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2024