PSX Closing Bell: Grease the Wheels

October 07, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan stock market extended its rally further amid strong buying in Oil & Gas Exploration Companies, Fertilizer, and Commercial Banks.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged 1,378.34 points or 1.65% to conclude Monday's trading session at an all-time high of 84,910.29. Last week, the index rose 2,240 points or 2.8%.

The bullish momentum is largely been driven by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board’s approval of a $7 billion loan, a slump in bond yields amid a larger-than-expected drop in September inflation, and an improvement in central bank's reserves.

Inflation slowed to the lowest in almost four years, with consumer prices rising by 6.9% in September over the prior year. That is within the central bank's target range of 5-7%.

Traders have ramped up bets for more oversized rate cuts by the central bank in the upcoming meetings. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has reduced its policy rate by 450bps since June 2024.

Throughout today's session, the index traded in a range of 1,744.27 points showing an intraday high of 85,047.81 (+1,515.86) and a low of 83,303.54 (-228.41) points.

The total volume of the KSE-100 Index was 281.01 million shares.

Of the 100 index companies 73 closed up, 23 closed down, 2 were unchanged, while 2 remained untraded.

Top gainers during the day were PAKT (+9.11%), OGDC (+7.66%), SNGP (+7.19%), PPL (+6.82%), and PSO (+5.78%).

On the other hand, top losers were HUBC (-2.90%), ATRL (-2.29%), NPL (-2.23%), NRL (-2.12%), and IBFL (-1.41%).

In terms of index-point contributions, companies that propped up the index were OGDC (+244.71pts), PPL (+172.72pts), FFC (+135.06pts), POL (+121.17pts), and ENGRO (+78.37pts).

Meanwhile, companies that dragged the index lower were HUBC (-113.16pts), LUCK (-18.12pts), ATRL (-9.92pts), MTL (-9.32pts), and HBL (-6.38pts).

Sector-wise, KSE-100 Index was supported by Oil & Gas Exploration Companies (+586.10pts), Fertilizer (+277.11pts), Commercial Banks (+245.46pts), Oil & Gas Marketing Companies (+114.52pts), and Pharmaceuticals (+51.25pts).

While the index was let down by Power Generation & Distribution (-102.17pts), Refinery (-13.02pts), Automobile Assembler (-6.53pts), Miscellaneous (-3.95pts), and Synthetic & Rayon (-2.48pts).

In the broader market, the All-Share Index closed at 54,022.04 with a net gain of 968.23 points or 1.82%.

Total market volume was 449.51 million shares compared to 381.55m from the previous session while traded value was recorded at Rs30.20 billion showing an increase of Rs9.67bn.

There were 254,201 trades reported in 447 companies with 217 closing up, 167 closing down, and 63 remaining unchanged.

To note, the KSE-100 has gained 6,465 points or 8.24% during the fiscal year, whereas the ongoing calendar year has witnessed a cumulative increase of 22,459 points, equivalent to 35.96%.

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