KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday crossed the 58,000-point mark for the first time, with analysts crediting monetary easing and optimism surrounding the economy after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slide for driving the market.
The main index of the Kuwait Stock Exchange 100 jumped to its highest levels at 58,405.92 points in real-time trading. But it closed at 58,198.76 points after gaining 827.18 points, or 1.44%, higher than yesterday’s closing of 57,371.59 points.
Arif Habib Limited (AHL) Head of Research, Tahir Abbas, while speaking to Geo.tvHe said the market is continuing its positive momentum amid expectations of monetary easing, strong profitability and certainty about the next general elections – scheduled for February 8 next year.
“Moreover, despite the fact that the market is trading at all-time highs, the market valuation remains attractive. The KSE-100 is currently trading at a PE (price-to-earnings ratio) of 4.3x compared to the PE-100,” he added. The average for the last five years is a multiple of 6x.
Meanwhile, Pakistan-Kuwaiti Research Head Samiullah Tariq said Geo.tv The market is responding to the hopes of the International Monetary Fund Board of Directors to approve the tranche under the credit standby agreement, in addition to the low valuations compared to the region.
Total trading volume reached 596.2 million shares, compared to 1.01 billion on Tuesday. The value of shares traded during the day reached 22.05 billion rupees.
Shares of 389 companies were traded. Among these stocks, the prices of 236 stocks closed higher, 136 stocks declined, and 17 stocks remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom was the leader in terms of volume with 50.3 million shares traded, losing Rs 0.03 to close at Rs 1.64. It was followed by Fauji Fert Bin with 23.2 million shares, up 0.31 rupees, to close at 22.94 rupees, then Fauji Foods Ltd, with 20.1 million shares, up 0.22 rupees, to close at 8.99 rupees.