Buying spree continues at PSX, KSE-100 gains over 1,000 points to cross 78,000

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a buying spree as the benchmark KSE-100 index gained over 1,300 points during the opening hour of the first trading session post-Eid holidays on Thursday.

At 10:50am, the benchmark index was hovering at 78,073.70 level, an increase of 1,366.93 points or 1.78%.

It is pertinent to mention that the stock market was closed from 17-19 June, 2024, on account of Eid-ul-Adha holidays.

On Thursday, buying was witnessed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, and refinery.

Index-heavy stocks including ODGC, POL, SHEL, SNGPL, MEBL, HBL traded in the green.

During the previous week, the PSX witnessed a bullish trend and hit new levels after no increase in the tax rate on dividend and capital gain from the stock market for filers against market rumours and increase in taxes on other asset classes continued to garner investor interest.

The benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 2,952.75 points on a week-on-week basis and closed at its highest-ever level of 76,706.77.

“Positive sentiments continue amid hope that new budget will help in securing long-term International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal,” said Mohammed Sohail, CEO Topline Securities, in a note.

In a key development, Fitch Ratings on Tuesday called Pakistan’s budget for fiscal year 2024-25 “ambitious”, but stressed that it strengthens prospects for a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“It is uncertain whether fiscal targets will be hit, but even assuming only partial implementation of the budget, we forecast the fiscal deficit will narrow. This should reduce external pressures, albeit at a cost to growth,” it said in the commentary.

Globally, Indian shares opened marginally higher on Thursday, led by private sector banks after positive commentary on the sector from Macquarie, while a drop in pharma stocks capped gains.

The NSE Nifty 50 was up 0.06% at 23,531.30, while the S&P BSE Sensex added 0.17% to 77,477.91, as of 9:27 a.m. IST.