KSE-100 closes with 106-point gain after briefly crossing 81,000

Equities at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained their upward trajectory, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed 106 points higher after briefly crossing 81,000 during trading on Tuesday.

The bulls maintained their reign in the first half, helping the KSE-100 hit 81,000 for the first time in history, which was followed by some profit-taking in the latter hours.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 80,672.06, up by 105.86 points or 0.13%.

Earlier, buying was witnessed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies and OMCs.

Index-heavy stocks including OGDC, PPL, HBL, MCB, MEBL and NBP traded in the green.

The market remained generally optimistic regarding macroeconomic recovery and a government’s ability to ink a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

“Fresh liquidity, potentially after the IMF agreement, and further rate cuts should help extend the rally,” said Intermarket Securities Limited in a note on Tuesday.

On Monday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) had maintained its bullish run despite disruption caused by a fire incident that suspended trading for more than two hours, as the benchmark KSE-100 index settled at a new record high of 80,566.21.

Globally, Japan’s Nikkei hit a record high on Tuesday, while investors elsewhere waited anxiously to see if Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell would sound supportive of rate cuts after evidence the US labour market is cooling.

The Nikkei index jumped 1.5% to a fresh record high thanks to gains in semiconductor shares, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last flat, having hit a two-year top a day earlier.

Powell is set to appear before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, as investors wagered a slew of soft labour market data has greatly increased the chance of a rate cut in September to about 80%.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee registered marginal improvement, appreciating 0.04% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the local unit settled at 278.4, a gain of Re0.1 against the greenback, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).