The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) marked a historic milestone as the benchmark KSE-100 index soared past the 72,000 level for the first time in its history during intra-day trading on Wednesday.
At 11:00 am, the KSE-100 index reached 72,022.02, registering a remarkable increase of 662.62 points or 0.93%. It achieved an intra-day peak of 72,414.32 before retracting slightly.
Investor interest was particularly strong in key sectors such as cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, and OMCs, with prominent stocks like PPL, OGDC, PSO, and SHEL performing positively.
Market analysts attributed the bullish trend to improved economic indicators, with expectations of a rate cut in the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MOC) meeting driving investor optimism.
Mohammed Sohail, CEO of Topline Securities, commented, “Another record high at PSX with the index gaining around 1000 points mainly led by institutional buying.” He further noted, “After record current account surplus, investors are now expecting a significant decline in April’s CPI that may result in a cut in interest rates in the coming months.”
Recent data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) revealed a substantial current account surplus of $619 million in March 2024, marking a significant increase compared to the previous month.
In a noteworthy development, data from the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) indicated that Pakistan borrowed $6.899 billion from various financing sources during the first nine months (July-March) of the fiscal year 2023-24, showing a decrease from the borrowing recorded during the same period of the previous fiscal year.
On Tuesday, the PSX experienced a relatively stable session, with the KSE-100 Index closing marginally lower by 74 points at 71,359.41.
Globally, Asian stocks rallied on Wednesday, following Wall Street’s positive performance, driven by Tesla’s after-hours surge and upbeat earnings from US companies. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 1.55%, with Japan’s Nikkei surging 2%. China stocks were mixed, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 1.6%.
