Stock market makes history as KSE-100 crosses 100,000 mark

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Thursday made history, as the benchmark KSE-100 index crossed the 100,000-point mark for the first time, signaling robust confidence of investors and businesses in the government policies.

The benchmark index climbed by 813.52 points, reaching 100,082.77 points, up from its previous close of 99,269.25.

On Thursday, the rupee closed a tad weaker, as the importers’ dollar buying outweighed optimism from the remarkable performance of the benchmark stock index after end to the political unrest.

The rupee ended at 278.04 against the US dollar in the interbank market, down from its close at 277.96 on Wednesday.

“Even if the local stocks performed admirably and people had optimistic opinions about Pakistan’s economy, the local unit remained on the defensive due to the importers’ dollar-buying and lower inflows from the exporters’ dollar sales,” a currency dealer said. “For a few weeks now, the rupee has been following this pattern: it loses some ground during the first four trading sessions of the week but gains ground during the final session,” the dealer added. “Because of improved dollar liquidity in the market, bolstered by increased remittances and steady foreign exchange reserves, we anticipate that the rupee will continue to follow this pattern and remain stable in the near term.”

The rupee also saw a modest decline in the open market, closing at 279.06 to the dollar from 278.97 in the previous session.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Thursday felicitated the nation over the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s strong performance, saying it was the result of team effort and close coordination among the federal government and various stakeholders.

Addressing the 26th National Security Workshop of the National Defence University (NDU) here, he said, “This is also about business sentiments and we believe that Pakistan is slowly and steadily moving towards the right direction.” He said the day before yesterday, the stock market witnessed a steep fall of around 4,000 points due to what happened in Islamabad. However, he noted with pleasure that as the situation became normal, the market rebounded in the next couple of days, crossing the 100,000 points for the first time in the country’s history.

Meanwhile, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has received a $500 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a disbursement that will bolster its foreign exchange reserves.

“SBP has received $500 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as proceeds of a loan to the government of Pakistan for the Climate Change and Disaster Resilience Enhancement Program (CDREP),” the SBP said in a statement. “These proceeds will be reflected in SBP’s foreign exchange reserves for the week ending on 29th November 2024 to be published on 5th December 2024,” it added.

Last week, Pakistan and the ADB inked a loan agreement under the CDREP to improve the nation’s ability to handle the risks of natural disasters and climate change. These inflows will support the country’s balance of payments, boosting the SBP’s forex reserves to around 12 billion. As of November 22, the SBP’s reserves stood at $11.42 billion — enough to cover more than two months of imports.