KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its upward trend for the second consecutive trading day, with the KSE-100 index rising by 198 points, primarily fueled by positive earnings reports from various sectors.
The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 114,528.09 points, marking a 0.17 percent increase from the previous day’s close of 114,330.10 points. The index reached a high of 115,889.60 points and a low of 114,178.56 points during the trading session.
Analyst Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp attributed the market’s positive performance to strong financial results from fertilizer, cement, oil, and banking companies. He also highlighted expectations of reduced industrial power tariffs, low projected inflation for February 2025, the privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and positive discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next week as contributing factors.
The KSE-30 index also saw an increase, rising by 0.24 percent to 35,698.95 points. Trading volume increased to 495.984 million shares, with a trading value of Rs29.362 billion. Market capitalization expanded to Rs14.129 trillion. Out of 444 active companies, 169 closed higher, 223 closed lower, and 52 remained unchanged.
Analyst Naveed Nadeem of Topline Securities noted that local fund buying, as indicated by NCCPL data, supported the KSE-100’s upward movement. Key contributors to the index’s gain included BAHL, MCB, OGDC, MLCF, and MARI, while FFC, HUBC, and TRG contributed to losses.
Hoechst Pakistan Limited and The Thal Industries Corporation Limited saw the largest gains, while Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited and Pakistan Services Limited experienced the most significant declines.
Analysts anticipate the KSE-100 index to potentially close above 115,000 points this week, paving the way for further gains. They believe the current market conditions suggest limited downside risk and increasing upside momentum.
Fauji Cement led trading volume with 61.091 million shares, followed by Maple Leaf with 33.825 million shares. Other actively traded stocks included At-Tahur Ltd, K-Electric Ltd, Pak Elektron, B O Punjab, Al-Shaheer Corp, Aisha Steel Mills, WorldCall Telecom, and Kot Addu Power.
In the Futures Market, 150 companies recorded gains, 178 recorded losses, and 6 remained unchanged out of 334 actively traded companies.
