KSE-100 sets new record, a day after Chinese commercial loan rollover

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange closed the fiscal year on a high note, carrying forward last week’s bullish momentum, while setting a new high on Monday. During the session, the benchmark KSE-100 index soared by 1,369 points before closing with a net gain of 1,248 points, or 1 per cent, settling at 125,627.31.

The upbeat sentiment was fuelled by strong fiscal year-end flows and a significant external trigger — China’s rollover of $3.4 billion in commercial loans. This move helped Pakistan meet the IMF’s foreign reserves requirement of around $14 billion, reinforcing investor confidence.

Read more: China rolls over $3.4 billion of commercial loans to Pakistan

Investors’ sentiment was buoyed by Bloomberg, which named Pakistan as the most improved economy in terms of sovereign default risk. Additionally, confidence was reinforced by the finance ministry’s projection of June inflation at 3–4 per cent and China rolling over its loan.

Improved market liquidity supported sustained buying interest buying interest, Ismail Iqbal Securities stated.

Meanwhile, commercial banks, fertilizer, and technology and communication sectors were the major contributors in Monday’s session.

Heavyweights like FFC, HBL, BAHL, UBL, POL, FABL, and PKGP led the charge, collectively contributing 724 points to the index.

On the trading front, market participation remained robust with 1,141 million shares traded and an overall turnover of Rs35.1 billion. Volume leader WTL saw an impressive 139.8 million shares changing hands.

In terms of the traded value, top contributors to the KSE-100 Index included PABC (Rs1.50bn), FABL (Rs1.22bn), NATF (Rs1.10bn), OGDC (Rs957.92mn), PPL (Rs789.47mn), PSO (Rs736.85mn), and FFC (Rs659.95mn).

With sentiment riding high and macro support in place, the market appears well positioned as it steps into the new fiscal year, Topline Securities said.