Investor confidence buoyed by improved liquidity and strong corporate earnings expectations
The Pakistan Stock Exchange closed at a record high on Friday on renewed buying from financial institutions, especially certain scrips that may give healthy dividends.
The benchmark KSE-100 index opened on a positive note, reaching an all-time intraday high of 132,108.14 points before closing at 131,949.06 points, up 0.97% or 1,262.40 points.
An analyst from Al Habib Capital Market said that investor confidence was buoyed by improved liquidity, as the country’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves rose to $18.01 billion.
Additional support came from the prime minister’s directive to double the national digital payment targets and the World Bank’s reaffirmation of financial backing for the Tarbela Hydropower Project Extension-5 in collaboration with WAPDA.
Top contributors to the index included United Bank Limited, Habib Bank Limited, Systems Limited, Bank Al Habib Limited, and MCB Bank Limited, which collectively added 1,146.56 points.
Worldcall Telecom Limited led the volumes with 58.26 million shares, while total market turnover reached 733.08 million shares.
Ahsan Mehanti from Arif Habib Limited said that stocks closed bullish and at a new all-time high as investors weighed rupee recovery.
Investors were in a positive mood after the central bank announced that overall reserves reached $18 billion amid improved inflows and political stability.
Falling government bond yields and investor speculations ahead of major earning announcements due next week played a catalyst role in the record close, he added.
An analyst from Pearl Securities attributed the stock market performance to heightened investor optimism, underpinned by strong corporate earnings expectations and sustained improvement in key macroeconomic indicators.
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