PSX hits another milestone amid monetary easing, upcoming IMF tranche

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Wednesday breached the 58,000 mark for the first time as analysts credit monetary easing and optimism surrounding the economy after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) tranche for driving the market. 

The benchmark KSE-100 index jumped to its highest 58,405.92 points in the intraday trade. However, it closed at 58,198.76 points after gaining 827.18 points or 1.44%, up from yesterday’s close of 57,371.59 points.

Arif Habib Limited (AHL) Head of Research Tahir Abbas, while speaking to Geo.tv, said that the market was continuing its positive momentum amid expectations of monetary easing, strong profitability, and certainty on the upcoming general election — slated to take place on February 8 next year. 

"Moreover, despite the fact that the market is trading at an all-time high, the valuation of the market is still attractive. The KSE-100 index is currently trading at a PE (price to earning ratio) of 4.3x as compared to the last 5-year average multiple of 6x," he added. 

Meanwhile, Pakistan-Kuwait Head of Research, Samiullah Tariq told Geo.tv that the market is responding to the hopes of IMF board approving the tranche under the SBA as well as the low valuations compared to the region.

Overall trading volumes reached 596.2 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 1.01 billion. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs22.05 billion.

Shares of 389 companies were traded. Of these, 236 stocks closed higher, 136 fell, and 17 remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader trading in 50.3 million shares, losing Rs0.03 to close at Rs1.64. It was followed by Fauji Fert Bin with 23.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.31 to close at Rs22.94, and Fauji Foods Ltd with 20.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.22 to close at Rs8.99.