In the midst of prevailing economic optimism, the stock market continued its streak of record-breaking performances for the seventh consecutive session on Friday. Buoyant investors, driven by aggressive value-hunting across various sectors, propelled the KSE 100 index to achieve a historic closing above 75,000 for the first time.
Ahsan Mehanti from Arif Habib Corporation noted that factors such as the current account surplus of $491 million in April, indicating rising remittances and exports, along with the country’s foreign exchange reserves climbing to $14.62 billion, maintained the market’s bullish sentiment. Additionally, reports suggesting the government’s commitment to securing a five-year extension for repaying the $15.36 billion debt to Chinese Independent Power Producers contributed to the record close on the PSX.
Topline Securities attributed the positive market performance to a decline in yields on T-bills, often interpreted as a precursor to a potential cut in the State Bank’s policy rate, given the sharp deceleration in inflation, expected to range between 13-15% in May.
Key contributors to the market’s performance included Dawood Hercules, Hub Power Company, Thal Ltd, Engro Fertilisers, and Fauji Fertiliser, collectively adding 222 points to the index.
The benchmark index reached an intraday high of 75,401.12 and a low of 74,947.71 before closing at a new peak of 75,342.35 points, marking a gain of 411.65 points or 0.55% on a day-on-day basis.
Despite the overall trading volume increasing by 21.85% to 496.69 million shares, the traded value saw a modest rise of 3.84% to Rs17.63 billion day-on-day.
Significant contributors to the traded volume included Kohinoor Spinning, PIA, K-Electric, Dewan Cement, and Pak Elektron.
Among the companies, registering notable increases in share prices were Nestle Pakistan, Ismail Industries, Hoechst Pak, Unilever Foods, and Thal Ltd. Conversely, Service Industries Ltd, Khyber Textile, Hinopak Motors, Pakistan National Shipping, and Philip Morris experienced significant decreases in their share prices.
Foreign investors remained actively engaged in value-hunting, acquiring additional shares worth $0.45 million.
