KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its record-­setting spree on Monday, driven by aggressive buying on improved economic outlook, helping the KSE 100 index break the 110,000 threshold for the first time in intraday trade.

Topline Securities Ltd said the KSE-100 index closed at an all-time high of 109,970, recording a gain of 916 points, or 0.84pc day-on-day. The market opened with concerns over the advance-to-deposit ratio, bringing banking scrips under pressure, reflecting a negative sentiment with a decline of 1,424 points. However, as local institutions entered the market, it reversed course and moved into positive territory, reaching an intraday high of 110,359.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the equities market closed at an all-time high as investors weighed falling lending rates after a drop in the government bond yields amid speculations over an imminent significant rate cut in the SBP policy announcement next week.

He added that the exch­ange rate stability on surging foreign exchange reserves, the global crude oil price surge, and upbeat economic indicators kept fuelling the bull run at PSX.

Mari Petroleum, Lucky Cement, Systems Ltd, Engro Corporation, and The Searle added 910 points to the index’s rise.

Ali Najib, Head of Sales at Insight Securities, said investors cherry-picked blue-chip stocks ahead of a crucial announcement by the Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Dec 16. Cyclical sectors, especially cement and autos, witnessed handsome buying interest.

However, the trading volume fell 5.88pc to 1.59 billion shares while the traded value rose 4.8pc to Rs60.25bn day-on-day.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included K-Electric (164.51m shares), Worl­dCall Telecom (161.90m shares), Cnergyico PK (113.02m shares), Bank of Punjab (69.10m shares) and Telecard Ltd (53.53m shares).

The shares registering the most significant incre­ases in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan (Rs67­1.59), Saz­gar Engineering Works (Rs95.01), Sap­phire Fibres (Rs91.05), Rafhan Maize (Rs87.15) and Unilever Foods (Rs76.83).

The companies registering significant decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Lucky Core Industries (Rs47.84), Thal Ltd (Rs21.39), BF Biosciences (Rs20.38), Pak Services (Rs15.12) and Thatta Cement (Rs13.84).

After a long break, foreigners became net buyers, purchasing shares worth $1.44 million.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2024