Pakistan equities gain 3.12% on positive market triggers in Nov

The KSE-100 Index gained momentum in November, closing at 166,678 points, up 5,046 points or 3.12% month-over-month.

The market’s bullish shift was driven by positive catalysts in various sectors.

Fertilizer gained momentum after reports of the government’s approval to shift from costly Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas to local gas, easing subsidy pressures and supporting stable urea prices.

Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) benefited from its inclusion in the Islamic index, KSE Meezan Index or KMI-30, while Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) benefited from interest in the upcoming offshore activity and progress toward Reko Diq’s financial closure.

Pioneer Cement (PIOC) rallied on the prospect of a merger and acquisition.

Stocks’ performance in November

In November, the benchmark KSE-100 index gave a return of 3.1% and 3.3% in rupee and dollar terms, respectively.

In November, average traded volume decreased by 43% to 819 million shares, while average traded value decreased by 34% to $124 million.

Sectors that garnered the most activity during the month were technology, banks, investment banks, and power, reporting average volumes of 140 million, 99 million, 99 million and 71 million, respectively.

According to the scrip-wise break-up, volumes were led by WorldCall Telecom Limited (72.7 million), K-Electric (57.4 million), First National Equities Limited (39.9 million), Bank of Punjab (30.6 million), and HASCOL (26.3 million).

On a sector-wise basis, most activity during the period was witnessed in cement, bank, E&P, technology, and refinery, posting trade values of $16 million, $15 million, $13 million, $11 million, and $9 million, respectively.

Meanwhile, on a scrip-wise basis, the highest trading values were dominated by FFC ($6.6 million), PPL ($5.9 million), Pakistan State Oil ($4.1 million), National Bank of Pakistan ($4.1 million), and Bank of Punjab ($3.8 million).

Sectors contributing positively to the index during November include fertilizer (3,533 points), E&P (973 points), cement (617 points) and power (330 points).

Scrip-wise positive contributors during the month were FFC (3,105 points), PPL (568 points), PIOC (490 points), HUB (284 points) and OGDC (265 points).

Scrip-wise negative contributors were BAHL (289 points), UBL (174 points), BWCL (118 points), NBP (116 points), and BAFL (97 points).

Foreign buying was witnessed in the Asia-Pacific region during November, led by Indonesia ($730 million), followed by India ($430 million) and the Philippines ($78 million).

On the domestic stock exchange, foreign selling activity of $41.3 million was reported in November. The outflows were predominantly in banks ($14.9 million), cement ($10.4 million) & E&P ($7.1 million). Whereas, net buying was observed in the power sector ($0.1 million).

Economic indicators

Inflation for October clocked in at 6.2% year-on-year, the highest in a year, up from 5.6% in September.

Pakistan also recorded a $3.28 billion trade deficit in October, widening the gap in four months of the fiscal year 2026 to 38.9% year-on-year to $12.6 billion.

Pakistan's large-scale industrial production, measured by the large-scale manufacturing index (LSMI), grew by 2.7% year-on-year in September, accompanied by a 2% monthly increase.

Remittances by overseas Pakistanis rose 12% to $3.42 billion in October against $3.05 billion in October, marking a 7% month-on-month increase. The cumulative inflows during the four months of FY26 totaled $12.96 billion, up 9% from the same period last year.