The bullish momentum in Pakistan’s stock market persisted on Friday as the benchmark KSE-100 index surged by another 498.61 points, or 0.65%, closing at a record high of 76,706.7. This follows a massive rally yesterday, where the index soared by 3,411 points, or 4.7%, marking the biggest jump since the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) bailout package last year.
The market’s positivity was largely attributed to the government’s decision to keep the capital gains tax (CGT) rate unchanged, alleviating one of the major uncertainties that had caused panic among investors in recent weeks.
Intraday and Market Highlights:
- The index traded in a range of 1,206.89 points, reaching an intraday high of 77,310.45 (+1,102.29) and a low of 76,103.56 (-104.6).
- The total volume of the KSE-100 index was 212.69 million shares.
- In the broader market, the All-Share index closed at 48,710.98, gaining 213.90 points.
- Total market volume was 395.90 million shares, down from 635.53 million in the previous session, with a traded value of Rs21.37 billion, showing a decrease of Rs9.41 billion.
Sector Performance:
The KSE-100 index was supported by gains in:
- Commercial Banks: +706.41 points
- Food & Personal Care Products: +32.05 points
- Power Generation & Distribution: +26.18 points
- Investment Banks/Companies/Securities: +25.69 points
- Tobacco: +7.43 points
Conversely, the index faced declines from:
- Cement: -71.28 points
- Technology & Communication: -57.35 points
- Textile Composite: -29.31 points
- Automobile Parts & Accessories: -22.92 points
- Miscellaneous: -22.9 points
Key Movers:
Companies contributing positively included:
- Meezan Bank Ltd (MEBL): +135.26 points
- MCB Bank Ltd (MCB): +127.12 points
- Bank Alfalah Ltd (BAFL): +117.01 points
- United Bank Ltd (UBL): +114.86 points
- Bank Al Habib Ltd (BAHL): +94.34 points
Companies that dragged the index down included:
- Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL): -65.7 points
- Systems Ltd (SYS): -37.6 points
- Interloop Ltd (ILP): -37.47 points
- Lucky Cement Ltd (LUCK): -30.24 points
- Pakistan Services Ltd (PSEL): -25.89 points
Market Dynamics:
- Top Ten by Volume:
- K-Electric Ltd (KEL): 23,043,838 shares
- Worldcall Telecom Ltd (WTL): 22,436,438 shares
- Airlink Communication Ltd (AIRLINK): 17,995,732 shares
- Fauji Cement Company Ltd (FCCL): 17,199,734 shares
- Lotte Chemical Pakistan Ltd (LOTCHEM): 16,684,305 shares
- Interloop Ltd (ILP): 14,220,107 shares
- Oil & Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDC): 11,098,685 shares
- Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd (PASL): 10,512,402 shares
- Askari Bank Ltd (AKBL): 9,987,959 shares
- Pak Elektron Ltd (PAEL): 8,515,899 shares
- Weekly and Yearly Gains:
- The KSE-100 index has gained 35,254 points, or 85.05%, during the fiscal year.
- The ongoing calendar year has witnessed a cumulative increase of 14,256 points, equivalent to 22.83%.
Arif Habib Limited’s Insights:
Arif Habib Limited highlighted that maintaining the current CGT rates for filers positively impacted the market. “We believe that the change in the CGT rate was one of the major uncertainties and caused panic in the market during the last couple of weeks,” their budget review stated.
