Pak Stock Market hit all time high to 72,051pts

Pakistan Stock Market hit all time high on Wednesday gaining 692 points at closing to touch 72,051 points. During the intra-day trading, KSE-100 Index gained 1055 to 72,414 points.

“This surge, propelled by positive shifts in market sentiment in the back drop off anticipation in economic metrics such as foreign exchange reserves and inflation trends, has ignited expectations of forthcoming monetary easing,” analyst at Topline Securities said.

Various sectors, including Cement, Banking, Power, and Automobiles, contributed significantly to this ascent, with notable contributions from companies like LUCK, HUBC, HBL, MTL, and SYSTM, collectively adding 369 points.

Conversely, profit-taking was observed in companies like MEBL, PAKT, and PSEL, resulting in a cumulative loss of 85 points.

In the banking sector, MCB and BAFL disclosed their financial results, with MCB reporting an EPS of Rs 15.04 and BAFL Rs 6.31. Earnings higher than industry expectations, accompanied by cash dividends of Rs 9.0 and Rs 2 per share respectively.

Trading activity remained robust, with approximately 599.29 million shares exchanged, totaling Rs 24.45 billion in value. PIBTL, KEL, and AIRLINK emerged as volume leaders, with a combined trading volume exceeding 120.5 million shares.

Gold Rates:

In Pakistan market, the Gold rates, once again, gained Rs 1100 in the local markets to Rs 242,000 per Tola. Meanwhile, 10 grams Gold prices increased to Rs 943 to Rs 207,476. In the international market, the Gold enhanced $11 to $2320 per ounce.

In the banking sector, the bad loans increased sharply over Rs 1 trillion in 2023.

Non-performing loans (NPLs) disbursed by the banking industry surged by more than Rs 70 billion in 2023, the latest data by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed.

In 2023, bad loans by the sector surged to Rs 1.009 trillion, up by Rs 71.3 billion compared to Rs 938 billion in the same period last year.

In another development, Pakistan has requested $3.5 billion loan from Saudi Arabia for Diamer Bhasha Dam.

Saudis will respond to this request after consulting with their financial advisor for the dam project. Pakistan’s financial advisor will engage with an advisor from Riyadh to ensure coordination on the project’s financial aspects. The formal request from King Saudi Aravua is expected within 1.5 to 2 months, the media reports said.

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