Pakistan Stock Market closes higher amid Moody’s rating upgrade

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed gains on Friday, with the KSE-100 index rising over 400 points during intraday trade.

The benchmark KSE-100 index advanced by 446.50 points, or 0.57 per cent, to reach 78,796.16 points from the previous close of 78,349.66 at 11:44 am. However, the index could not maintain its position, closing at 78,488.21, up by 138.55 points, or 0.18 per cent, from the previous close.

Topline Securities Chief Executive Mohammed Sohail attributed the initial momentum to expectations of inflows from Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) rebalancing. “The market was buoyed by anticipated MSCI rebalancing inflows,” Sohail said, according to Dawn.com.

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He also noted that the upcoming release of Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, which measures household inflation, had influenced market sentiment. The data is expected on Monday, with the market anticipating an August CPI near 10%. In July, Pakistan’s CPI rose by 11.1 per cent year-on-year.

Awais Ashraf, Director of Research at AKD Securities, highlighted that the bullish momentum was further supported by Moody’s recent rating upgrade.

On Thursday, the index had surged following Moody’s upgrade of Pakistan’s rating to Caa2 with a positive outlook. The rating agency cited Pakistan’s improving macroeconomic conditions and moderately better government liquidity and external positions as reasons for the upgrade.