KARACHI: Despite falling volumes, the equities market resumed its northward journey on Wednesday after the overnight downturn, pushing the KSE 100 index to an all-time high above 110,000 in a rally driven by rate cut hopes.

Topline Securities Ltd noted that the KSE-100 index surged to a historic high of 110,810, reflecting a notable gain of 1,914 points, or 1.76pc. The market maintained an upward trajectory, supported by strong buying activity from local institutions, and reached an intraday peak of 111,012.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said stocks turned bullish as a recent cut in the national savings rates renewed speculations over significant SBP policy easing next week.

He added that robust economic indicators, surging global crude oil prices, and recovery in global equities based on receding geopolitical tensions played a catalyst role in the new record close at PSX.

Key contributors to the index’s rise included Mari Petroleum, Pakistan Petroleum Ltd, Oil and Gas Development Company, Dawood Hercules, and United Bank Ltd, adding 1,002 points to the index.

However, the trading volume tumbled 30.24pc to 1.08 billion shares while the traded value decreased 31.4pc to Rs47.13bn day-on-day.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included K-Electric (135.91m shares), World­Call Telecom (73.53m

sha­res), Fauji Foods (57.12m sha­res), Lotte Chemical (54.84m shares) and Cnergyico PK (47.66m shares).

The shares registering the most significant incr­eases in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Foods (Rs504.95), Khyber Textile (Rs53.11), Macter International (Rs41.35), Mari Petroleum (Rs37.49) and Ismail Industries (Rs34.58).

The companies registering significant decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Nestle Pakistan (Rs175.54), Meh­m­­ood Textile (Rs59.14), The Premier Sugar (Rs26.65), Sapphire Fibres (Rs23.64) and Sitara Chemical (Rs18.15).

Mutual funds continued cherry-picking and bought shares worth $4.75m, while foreigners turned net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $0.07m.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2024