ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) marked another milestone on Tuesday as the KSE-100 Index soared by nearly 1,300 points, closing at a record high of 104,559.07. This remarkable gain of 1,284.13 points, or 1.24%, underscored strong investor confidence across multiple sectors.
Key sectors driving the rally included automobile assemblers, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration, oil marketing companies (OMCs), and refineries. Heavyweights like HUBCO, PSO, SSGC, MARI, OGDC, FFC, ENGRO, MCB, and NBP closed in positive territory, bolstering the index’s performance.
Market analysts attributed the surge to expectations of a policy rate cut by the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which is set to meet on December 16. This optimism follows November’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation reading of 4.9%, the lowest since May 2018, as reported by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
“The PSX continues its upward trajectory, driven by falling yields on fixed income instruments and overall macroeconomic stability,” noted Topline Securities in a commentary. The brokerage also highlighted that trading activity in the ready market reached a staggering Rs57 billion ($203 million), the highest in 18 years.
Tuesday’s performance followed Monday’s rally, during which the KSE-100 Index crossed the 103,000 mark, gaining over 1,900 points to set a then all-time high.
Globally, Asian stock markets also saw gains on Tuesday, led by robust performance in the tech sector after record highs on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei jumped 1.6%, South Korea’s KOSPI rose 1.7%, and Taiwan’s market climbed 1.1%. Meanwhile, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares added 0.7%.
On the currency front, the Pakistani rupee posted a marginal gain against the US dollar, appreciating by 0.04% in the interbank market to settle at 277.87.
Trading volumes on the all-share index increased to 1,766.47 million shares, up from 1,556.25 million on Monday. The value of traded shares rose to Rs56.62 billion from Rs47.10 billion in the previous session.
Cnergyico PK led trading volumes with 246.71 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom (89.42 million) and Hascol Petroleum (87.02 million). Of the 465 companies that traded on Tuesday, 271 recorded gains, 160 saw declines, and 34 remained unchanged.
The PSX’s stellar performance reflects a combination of local macroeconomic stability, global market trends, and investor optimism for further monetary easing in the near future.
