Bulls continued their stampede post-Eid as shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) climbed to all-time high — more than 1,300 points on Thursday in intraday trade — which analysts attributed to the “dovish outlook” of rating agencies for the country.
The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 1366.93, or 1.78 per cent to stand at 78,073.70 — an all-time high — from the previous close of 76,706.77 points at 10:45am.
Mohammed Sohail, chief executive of Topline Securities, attributed the bullish momentum to “positive sentiments continue amid hope that new budget will help securing long term IMF deal”.
Raza Jafri, chief executive of EFG Hermes Pakistan, said, “The market is pricing in the favourable news over the Eid holidays, including Fitch’s dovish view on inflation outlook and the proposed reduction in electricity tariffs for industries.”
“The bout of modest foreign selling pressure this month, possibly due to FTSE rebalancing, also appears to be largely behind us,” he added.
Yousuf M Farooq, director research at Chase Securities, highlighted the upward trajectory was due to “’declining fixed income yields, no additional capital gains and dividend taxes in the budget, rationalisation of energy tariffs, improving economic sentiment and reduced uncertainty over the balance of payments situation”.
Additionally, Farooq highlighted that “comments from Fitch and Moody’s have all contributed to todays market rally”.
More to follow