PSX reaches another historic high as KSE-100 index crosses 59,000 points

KARACHI: Stocks rallied Friday to mark a new milestone as the KSE-100 index crossed the 59,000 barrier for the first time in its history.

The benchmark index reached an intraday high of 59,502.28 points. However, it closed at 59,086.35 points after gaining 186.51 points or 0.32%, up from yesterday's close of 58,899.84 points.

Speaking to Thenews.com.pk, Head of Equities at Intermarket Securities Raza Jafri said: "The market continues to make new highs on tailwinds provided by the government's strong focus on the economy and reasonably well-managed risks for now."

He further said that the valuations remain attractive despite the rally, crediting the resumption of foreign buying as the key driver behind the increase.

Capital market expert Saad Ali attributed the rally to interest rate cuts, low political risks around the upcoming elections and smooth continuation of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) without the demand for further tightening measures. 

"Valuations still remain low by the historical average offering a greater upside," he said. 

A day earlier, Asia's best-performing KSE-100 index rose 1.2% on a robust economic outlook, shrinking current account deficit, and government efforts to resolve power sector circular debt, said analyst Ahsan Mehanti.

"The surging exports, ongoing rupee recovery, projections on falling interest rates and improving foreign exchange reserves following the IMF disbursement of the next tranche played a catalytic role in the record close."

Analyst Ali Najib at Topline Securities said the equities witnessed an unstoppable bull run where the benchmark index further gained over 1%. 

Overall trading volumes reached 658.4 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 669.2 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs22.01 billion.

Shares of 387 companies were traded. Of these, 165 stocks closed higher, 203 fell, and 19 remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader trading in 66.8 million shares, losing Rs0.06 to close at Rs1.56. It was followed by Pak Int Bulk with 38.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.08 to close at Rs5.65, and TPL Properties with 27.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.31 to close at Rs14.01.