Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) started the first day of the trading week with a bang marching ahead heavily as investors were optimistic that State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will announce a further reduction in the interest rate after its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled for today (Monday), reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
By midday, the PSX’s benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 1,809.13 points or 1.56% to reach all-time high of 116,110.93 points.
Of the total 454 companies traded so far, share prices of 286 companies were up and of 154 were down, with 14 unchanged.
On the last trading day on Friday, the PSX had surpassed the unprecedented 115,000-point mark before pulling back during the weekend trading session as investors locked in profits from the recent surge.
The benchmark KSE-100 index had then surged 121.30 points, or 0.11 percent, to close at 114,301.80 points.
Analysts further said that Asian Development Bank raising growth projections to three percent and lowering inflation forecast to 10 percent for FY25 played the role of a catalyst in the record surge at PSX.
Pakistani companies were currently trading at a relatively low price-to-earnings ratio of six times their profits, significantly below the 10-year average of 7.5 times and the historical peak of 12 times.
Trade data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics also supports positive investor sentiment as the trade deficit narrowed by 7.39 percent during the first five months (July-November) of the current fiscal year, standing at $8.651 billion, compared to $9.341 billion during the same period last year.
Exports rose by 12.57 percent to hit $13.69 billion, while imports increased by 3.90 percent to $22.342 billion during this period. November’s trade deficit narrowed even further, dropping by 18.60 percent year-on-year to $1.589 billion compared to $1.952 billion in November 2023.
Reporter: Basim Iftikhar