Buying spree lifts Pakistan Stock Exchange to historic high of 78,800

Investors were all around as the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed brisk buying with benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a gain of over 2,000 points during trading after Eid holidays on Thursday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The index skyrocketed by 2,094.76 points or 2.66 percent lifting the market to 78,801.53.

It is pertinent to mention that the stock market was closed from 17-19 June, 2024, on account of Eidul Azha holidays.

The buying was witnessed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, and refinery. Index-heavy stocks including ODGC, POL, SHEL, SNGPL, MEBL, HBL traded in the green.

During the last week, the PSX had recorded a bullish trend and hit new levels after no increase in the tax rate on dividend and capital gain from the stock market for filers against market rumours and increase in taxes on other asset classes continued to garner investor interest.

The benchmark KSE-100 index had surged by 2,952.75 points on a week-on-week basis and closed at its highest-ever level of 76,706.77.

Experts opined that positive sentiments continued amid hope that the new budget will help in securing long-term International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal.

In a key development, Fitch Rating on Tuesday had called Pakistan’s budget for fiscal year 2024-25 “ambitious”, but stressed that it strengthens prospects for a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “It is uncertain whether fiscal targets will be hit, but even assuming only partial implementation of the budget, we forecast the fiscal deficit will narrow. This should reduce external pressures, albeit at a cost to growth,” it said.

During the past week, the market lost ground in the first two days amidst rumours about potential increases in the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) due to which KSE100 index stayed bearish and the index hit 72,589 level before showing signs of recovery on Wednesday.

Market recovered swiftly after the announcement of federal budget for FY24-25. The taxation measures introduced in the budget weren’t as adverse as originally anticipated. Overall, average trading volumes decreased by 3.8%WoW to 409.6 million shares as compared to 423.3 million shares a week ago.

Reporter Ashraf Khan