KARACHI: The stock market surged above the 80,000 level intraday on initial buying triggered by an interest rate cut and the fixing of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) board meeting to review a bailout for Pakistan, but late selling substantially trim­med the early gains on profit-taking mainly driven by foreign investors on Friday.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thur­sday delivered the much-anticipated third straight cut in its policy rate, which was above the market expectations of 150bp but far lower than the trade and industry’s demand of up 500bps reduction since inflation receded to single digits in August.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the 200bps cut in the interest rate to 17.5 per cent and the International Monetary Fund announcement that its executive board will review Pakistan’s $7bn new loan programme for approval on Sept 25 boosted the market sentiments.

In its review, Topline Securities said the rate cut and IMF board meeting were the two key catalysts for today’s bullish trend anticipated by the investor community.

Initially, the PSX commenced the day as per expectation and made an intraday high at 80,016.74, gaining 999 points or 1.27pc. However, selling headwinds pushed the benchmark KSE index below this level, hitting a low of 79,262.72. However, it settled at 79,333.06 after gaining 315.44 points or 0.40pc day-on-day.

The trading volume surged 56.78pc to 916.05 million shares, and the traded value increased by 29.77pc to Rs21.23bn day-on-day.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom (87.80m shares), Pervez Consultancy (75.9­1m shares), Kohinoor Spinning Mills Ltd (63.75m shares), First Capital Securities (55.51m shares) and Pace Pakistan (35.18m shares).

The shares registering the most significant increases in their prices in abso­lute terms were Unilever Foods (Rs102.50), Ismail Industries (Rs9­3.97), Service Industries (Rs65.50), Pakistan Engin­eering (Rs43.00) and Mari Petroleum (Rs33.97).

The companies that suffered major losses in their share prices in absolute terms were Hoechst Paki­stan (Rs49.00), Dynea Pakis­tan (Rs26.02), Shield Corporation (Rs20.60), Hallmark Company (Rs17.61) and Philip Morris (R14.79).

Foreign investors turned net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $2.89m.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2024

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

Not cricket
Updated 06 Apr, 2025

Not cricket

It is high time that the PCB sets things right; even if it demands a complete overhaul of the system.
Balochistan deadlock
Updated 06 Apr, 2025

Balochistan deadlock

Akhtar Mengal’s demands to release women activists should seriously be considered.
Escalating brutality
Updated 06 Apr, 2025

Escalating brutality

The world’s patience is running out. Israel must be held accountable under international law for war crimes.
Electricity relief
Updated 05 Apr, 2025

Electricity relief

If govt ensures that requisite power reforms are implemented, it will earn much praise for reforming a vital segment of the economy.
Trump’s trade wars
Updated 05 Apr, 2025

Trump’s trade wars

Shoddy math applied by US to indiscriminately penalise its trading partners signals the end of an era of global trade liberalisation.
Legalised land grab
Updated 05 Apr, 2025

Legalised land grab

The Modi government from its inception has been attacking India’s minorities, the largest such community in its crosshairs being the Muslims.