November 03, 2023 (MLN): The benchmark KSE-100 index closed today's session at the highest level in history after 6.5 years, at 53,123.04 points.

To note, the previous highest closing, which was on May 24, 2017, was at 52,876 points.

While the previous intraday all-time high was 53,127.

The local equity market has been on a roll ever since the country secured a $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) from the IMF towards the end of FY23, which saved the cash-strapped nation that was on the brink of default.

The initial disbursement of $1.2bn under the SBA in July 2023, alongside $3bn bilateral inflows from the Arab countries gave a substantial boost to the depleting foreign reserves held by the country.

Accordingly, the KSE-100 has gained 11,670 points or 28.15% during the fiscal year, whereas the ongoing calendar year has witnessed a cumulative increase of 12,703 points, equivalent to 31.43% in the KSE-100.

Yesterday, the review mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) appreciated the Pakistani government's efforts to meet the targets set by the fund for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2023-24.

Accordingly, investors' confidence continues to remain elevated about a favorable IMF review, which if successful will pave the way for a $700 million installment.

Furthermore, the government-backed administrative measures have helped the Pakistani Rupee (PKR) to completely recover all year-to-date losses against the USD and strengthen significantly to 284 per USD.

This is coupled with strong company earnings for the quarter, alongside the market's anticipation of interest rates and inflation having peaked out.

The last two T-Bills auctions held on October 18 and November 01 indicated that the market was heavily pricing in the peak of interest rates, with both the auctions seeing record-high participation in 12-month MTBs.

This suggested that the market was anticipating a relatively stable or downward trend in interest rates.

To note, the central bank has kept the policy rate unchanged at 22% since June 2023, foreseeing the downward trend in inflation.

It is worth mentioning that on May 24, 2017, when the KSE-100 index closed at an all-time high of 52,876, the market capitalization stood at Rs2.64 trillion or $25.2bn.

Meanwhile, the current market capitalization for the index stands at just Rs1.76tr or $6.18bn.

The market capitalization in US dollar terms has fallen by around 75% mainly due to the depreciation of the PKR exchange rate, which has plummeted from PKR 104.86 per USD to 284.3 per USD.

Today's session

In today's intraday session, the index added 466.27 points or 0.89%.

The index remained positive through the day showing an intraday high of 53,263.07 (+606.31) and a low of 52,782.21 (+125.45) points.

The total volume of the KSE-100 Index was 215.884 million shares.

Of the 100 index companies 64 closed up, 21 closed down, 2 were unchanged, while 13 remained untraded.

KSE-100 index was supported by Commercial Banks with 119.8, Power Generation & Distribution with 77.94, Pharmaceuticals with 53.74, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 38.82, and Food & Personal Care Products with 33.29 points.

Companies adding points to the index were MEBL with 87.46, HUBC with 80.72, OGDC with 24.03, FFC with 23.1, and LUCK with 21.81 points.

KSE-100 Index was let down by Leather & Tanneries with 13.99, Fertilizer with 8.36, Cable & Electrical Goods with 2.2, Synthetic & Rayon with 2.07, and Textile Spinning with 0.22 points.

Companies dragging the index lower were HBL with 23.81, ENGRO with 22.59, POL with 15.61, SRVI with 13.99 and MLCF with 8.78 points.

In the broader market, the All-Share index closed at 35,434.61 with a net gain of 373.09 points.

The All-Share index has neither breached its intraday all-time high of 36,389.5 nor its all-time high closing of 36,240 points yet.

Total market volume was 509.113 million shares compared to 475.086 from the previous session while traded value was recorded at Rs15.59 billion showing an increase of Rs1.01bn.

There were 202,991 trades reported in 365 companies with 225 closing up, 115 closing down and 25 remaining unchanged.

Copyright Mettis Link News

Posted on: 2023-11-03T17:21:34+05:00