Positive momentum persisted at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark KSE-100 crossed the 98,000 mark for the first time in history during the opening hours of trading on Friday.
At 9:45am, the benchmark index was hovering at 98,246.13, an increase of 917.74 points or 0.94%.
Across-the-board buying was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and power generation. Index-heavy stocks including FFC, FFBQL, PSO, PPL and OGDC traded in the green.
Pakistan’s stock market has been on an upward trajectory in recent weeks, amid optimism which comes on account of positive macroeconomic indicators and projections of a further reduction in key policy rates.
“The market is anticipating the government will try a new solution to settle the outstanding balance of circular debt of the E&Ps,” said Intermarket Securities Limited, in a note on Friday.
“Market is also not expecting much disruption from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protests planned to begin on 24 November. We think the positive momentum will continue, and the index will soon cross the 100,000 level.”
With this bullish trend, the Pakistan stock market has become the second best-performing market in the world.
On Thursday, PSX achieved a historic milestone and hit highest-ever level on the back of strong interest of local investors coupled with institutional support on optimism after cut in interest rate, decreasing inflation and improving macroeconomic indicators.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index crossed the 97,000 historic level for the first time and closed at its highest-ever level of 97,328.40 points, recording an impressive increase of 1,781.94 points or 1.87%.
Globally, most Asian markets gained Friday after a bounce on Wall Street, while bitcoin continued its march higher to move within touching distance of the $100,000 mark.
Rising geopolitical tensions tempered the atmosphere and pushed oil higher after Russia hit Ukraine with a new-generation intermediate-range missile and sent a warning to the West.
The gains in equities followed a retreat in most regional bourses Thursday after a forecast-topping earnings report from chip titan Nvidia still fell short of investors’ hopes and sparked worries that a tech-fuelled surge in markets may have run its course.
However, all three main indexes on Wall Street ended on a positive note with observers saying traders had dialled back their gloom over Nvidia as they digested pledges by the firm over production of its keenly anticipated Blackwell line-up.
Tokyo climbed 1% as the government prepares to announce a $140 billion stimulus package to kickstart the country’s stuttering economy, while Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei and Jakarta also rose.
This is an intra-day update
Source: Brecorder
