PSX settles near 90,000 mark in another record-breaking rally

Bulls maintained hold of the trading floor at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index extending its record-breaking rally by closing near the historic 90,000 mark during the intraday trade. 

According to the PSX website, the market kickstarted the session with an upward trajectory and the benchmark index reached 90,027 points after gaining over 1,000 points during the first hour of trading. At 12:25 pm, the KSE-100 reached at 90,089.24 points, with an increase of 1143.26 points or 1.29%.

The index touched the peak of 90,593.61 points, up by 1599 points, for the first time in its history. 

Widespread buying activity was observed in major sectors such as oil and gas exploration companies, oil marketing companies, power generation firms, automobile assemblers, cement, and banks. 

Key stocks such as HUBCO, KEL, OGDC, PPL, PSO, and NBP saw their values increase.

At the day’s close, the KSE-100 settled at 89,993.96 points, with an increase of 1047.98 points or 1.18% from the previous close of 88,945.98 points.

Market analysts have attributed the recent bullish run to anticipation of another rate cut by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) amid expectations of a lower inflation reading in October. 

Many economists expect the SBP to cut its key policy rate by 200 basis points in its upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled for November 4, 2024. This would be the fourth consecutive reduction since June.

Globally, Asian stocks were mixed on Friday, with some markets tracking Wall Street gains from overnight, while Japan’s Nikkei dropped 1% after the yen rebounded strongly from a three-week trough to the dollar and with the coalition government at risk of losing its lower house majority in an election on Sunday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s blue chips index each rose about 1%. Australian and South Korean stock benchmarks were flat.