New high: KSE-100 settles above 154,000 level

Records continued to tumble at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), led by upbeat economic data across various sectors, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index settled above the 154,000 level for the first time in history, amid a gain of over 1,600 points on Friday.

The market maintained a positive momentum through the entire trading session, hitting an intra-day high of 154,511.31.

At close, the KSE-100 settled at 154,277.19, after an increase 1,611.47 points or 1.06%.

Analysts attributed the buying rally to positive macroeconomic developments and strong corporate earnings.

Chinese and Pakistani companies signed $7 billion worth of Memoranda of Understanding and $1.54 billion worth of Joint Ventures in sectors including agriculture, electric vehicles, solar energy and steel, at the Second Pakistan-China B2B Investment Conference held in Beijing on Thursday.

“Market is up 30% in the ongoing calendar year and almost 4x in the last 2 years,” Amreen Soorani, Head of Research at Al Meezan Investments, told Business Recorder.

This rally has just brought the market to approx 7x P/E [Price-to-Earnings], still below the historical average of 8x, she shared.

The analyst maintained that the outlook remains positive due to continued fundamentals, with expected corporate profit growth of 8-10% and a dividend yield of 8%.

“However, risks including poor macroeconomic conditions or climate events could disrupt profit growth and/or investor sentiments,” she said.

On Thursday, PSX extended its bullish momentum, marking a record-setting session as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at an all-time high of 152,665.72 points, up 463.85 points or 0.3%.

Globally, Asian stocks tracked Wall Street’s rise to a record high and Treasury yields eased to four-month lows on Friday as traders cemented bets for the Federal Reserve to cut rates this month, even with crucial US jobs data looming later in the day.

Markets are all but certain of a quarter-point cut at the conclusion of the Fed’s two-day rate-setting meeting on September 17, and price a cumulative 60 basis points of reductions this year.

Expectations of an easier monetary environment have supported global equities, and the S&P 500 rose 0.8% on Thursday to finish at a record high.

The Nasdaq climbed 1% to just shy of its own all-time closing high from August 13.

S&P 500 futures pointed 0.1% higher on Friday, and Nasdaq futures advanced 0.3%.

Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.8% and Taiwan’s stock benchmark climbed 0.8%. Both those markets are close to recent record highs.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and mainland Chinese blue chips each added about 0.4%.

Australian stocks gained 0.3%.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee maintained its positive momentum, appreciating 0.01% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the rupee settled at 281.65, a gain of Re0.02 against the greenback. This was the rupee’s 21st consecutive gain against the greenback.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 1,078.41 million from 954.33 million recorded in the previous close.

The value of shares declined to Rs59.95 billion from Rs46.05 billion in the previous session.

B.O.Punjab was the volume leader with 146.09 million shares, followed by F. Nat. Equities with 55.75 million shares, and Fauji Foods Ltd with 50.94 million shares.

On the gainers’ side, Sitara Chemical Industries Limited rose by Rs79.77 to close at Rs877.47, while Siemens (Pakistan) Engineering added Rs50.17 to settle at Rs1,603.17. Conversely, PIA Holding Company Limited-B fell by Rs834.67 to Rs25,506.00, and Hoechst Pakistan Limited shed Rs96.79 to Rs4,004.48, leading the laggards.

Shares of 479 companies were traded on Friday, of which 239 registered an increase, 210 recorded a fall, while 30 remained unchanged.