The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed continued dominance by bulls as the benchmark KSE-100 Index surpassed the 62,000 level for the first time in history on Monday.
The index started the day positively, reaching an intra-day high of 62,912.61, but profit-taking in the late session trimmed the gains. At close, the KSE-100 settled at 62,493.05, up 801.80 points or 1.30%. There was across-the-board buying, with index-heavy shares such as OGDC and PPL gaining more than 4%. Various sectors including auto assemblers, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, and refinery also saw gains.
In the previous week, the stock market had been on an upward rally, setting new record levels due to consistent buying from both local and foreign investors, supported by institutional backing. The benchmark index had surged by 2,604.90 points on a week-on-week basis, closing at its then-highest-ever level of 61,691.25 points.
Market experts attribute this positive trend to various factors, including a staff-level agreement between Pakistani authorities and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), agreements with Kuwait and UAE, a $3.0 billion deposit extension by KSA, and an expected $2.0 billion inflow from the World Bank in FY24.
Additionally, the market sentiment has been boosted by above-target FBR collections for the first five months of FY24, a relatively stable rupee, and expectations that interest rates have peaked and are likely to decrease starting in 2024.
The Pakistani rupee continued its upward trend against the US dollar, appreciating 0.15% in the inter-bank market on Monday. The currency settled at 284.53, an increase of Re0.44.
