Opening Bell: KSE-100 surges by over 1,000 points

August 11, 2023 (MLN): Recovering from yesterday’s decline, the benchmark KSE-100 index surges by 1090 points or 2.28% DoD and reaches 48,898 points in today’s opening trade [9: 44 PST].

This move comes as Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) incorporated 15 new scrips into its Frontier Market Index, without making any deletions.

Accordingly, Pakistan has 58 stocks in the MSCI Frontier Market Index, of which 42 are total additions in this review. 15 stocks have been added to MSCI Frontier Market (FM) Index. 14 scrips have been moved from MSCI Frontier Market Small Cap Index. 

This is in addition to the positive news flow regarding the Gulf nations bringing in $25 billion of investment.

The Saudis are in talks to buy into a giant copper mine, being developed at a cost of $7 billion by Canada’s Barrick Gold in western Pakistan, according to people familiar with the project.

Separately, negotiations are at an advanced stage to set up a Saudi oil refinery in Pakistan, which could cost up to $14 billion, according to Islamabad and Gulf officials.

In addition, investors welcomed the IMF’s approval of a novel scheme to ease the gas sector’s circular debt.

The scheme allows the government to plug in the dividends of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the gas sector to pay off their liabilities.

This would reduce the fiscal pressure on the budget and improve the financial health of the SOEs.

The rally was led by Commercial Banks which added 319.34 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 149.72 points, Fertilizer with 93.55 points, Power Generation and Distribution with 85.92 points and Cement with 73 points.

The most points added to the Index was by HUBC which contributed 61 points followed by MCB with 59.29 points, MEBL with 54.54 points, HBL with 45.39 points and UBL with 45.26 points.

The banking sector continues to uplift the KSE-100 index as the sector enjoys massive growth in earnings.

Bank Alfalah Limited (BAFL) reported a net profit of Rs18.63bn, a more than 2-fold increase from Rs8.77 billion in the same period last year.

Similarly, Meezan Bank Limited (MEBL) also posted a net profit of Rs32.92bn, a 92% jump from Rs17.14bn in the first half of 2022.

Both banks rewarded their shareholders with dividends, with BAFL declaring Rs2 per share and MEBL announcing Rs4 per share.

On the other hand, Engro Polymer and Chemicals Limited (EPCL) recorded a profit after tax of Rs2.75bn [EPS: Rs2.69] in 1HCY23, plummeting by 61% YoY, and paid an interim cash dividend of Rs1.50 (15%) per ordinary share and Rs0.50 (5%) per preference share for the second quarter.

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