Buying rally continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 1,000 points during the intra-day trading on Thursday.
At 1pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 118,024.36, an increase of 1,016.28 points or 0.87%.
Experts attributed the buying momentum to improved macroeconomic indicators, including a decline in the inflation rate, raising hopes for a further cut in the policy rate.
“CPI for December 2024 came in at an encouraging 4.1% (the lowest since April 2018), as macroeconomic stabilization under IMF directives continues to take root,” said Intermarket Securities, in a note.
“Equities, especially cyclicals, should remain an attractive vehicle for investment as the lagged impact of interest rate cuts gradually leads to improvements in consumption and industrial output going forward.”
Pakistan’s headline inflation clocked in at 4.1% on a year-on-year basis in December 2024, a reading below that of November 2024 when it stood at 4.9%, showed Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, PSX kicked off the new year with a bang, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index settled above the 117,000 level after a gain of nearly 1,900 points
Buying was observed in key sectors including oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, fertilizer, automobile assemblers, commercial banks and power generation. Index-heavy stocks including PSO, SHEL, OGDC, POL, ENGRO, HBL, MCB, MEBL and NBP traded in the green.
Internationally, Asian stocks began the year on a dour note on Thursday as they struggled for traction after a jittery close to 2024, while the US dollar charged higher and investor sentiment stayed cautious ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The start of the New Year was shaping up to be a less favourable one for equities, as uncertainty over the policies of incoming US President Trump and a more hawkish Federal Reserve outlook looked set to dominate the market rhetoric for now.
While global shares, closed out 2024 with a strong yearly gain of nearly 16%, they had clocked a monthly loss of more than 2% in December.
The same was the case for MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which slid 1.2% in December though it registered a gain of more than 7% for 2024.
The index lasted down 0.5% in the early Asian session on Thursday, with volume thinned due to a trading holiday in Japan.
This is an intra-day update
Source: Brecorder
