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KSE-100 Soars 4.5% in a Week as Oil Falls, Rupee SteadiesBusiness
Pakistan’s benchmark index gained 7,477 points to close at 173,887, as cheaper oil, easing inflation and a steady rupee lifted investor confidence.
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The Pakistan Stock Exchange enjoyed its strongest week in months, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index jumping 4.5 percent to close at 173,887 points for the week ended 6 November.
The index gained 7,477 points over the week from 166,409, rebounding sharply on positive global cues after the Democrats’ victory in the United States midterm elections and a steep fall in international crude oil prices. The rally added Rs520.26 billion to investors’ wealth, taking total market capitalisation to Rs18,909 billion, or about $68 billion.
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Trading activity picked up strongly. Average daily traded volume surged 43 percent to 856 million shares, while average daily traded value rose 24 percent to $103 million. On 6 November alone, some 1,480 million shares changed hands, though the index slipped 1,493 points that day as investors booked profits after the week’s gains.
Banks and cement led the rally
Banks were the biggest contributors to the weekly gain, adding 2,659 points to the index, followed by cement with 1,266 points, fertiliser with 988 points, power generation with 545 points and investment banks with 535 points. The refinery sector was the main drag, losing 238 points amid weak refining margins.
Among individual stocks, Fauji Fertilizer Company contributed the most, adding 613 points, followed by Lucky Cement with 564 points, Engro Holdings with 519 points, United Bank Limited with 491 points and Meezan Bank with 480 points. Attock Refinery and Cnergyico were the biggest drags, while Cnergyico was also the week’s most traded stock, with average volume of 75.8 million shares.
Pak Suzuki Electric led the weekly gainers, rising 26.7 percent, while Pioneer Cement and D.G. Khan Cement both climbed 12.5 percent. Cnergyico fell 11.3 percent and Attock Refinery dropped 9.8 percent, the week’s sharpest declines among index stocks.
Cooling inflation and cheaper fuel helped
The rally was backed by improving economic numbers. Inflation eased to 9.6 percent year-on-year in October, down from 10.3 percent in September, according to official data cited by brokerage research. The government raised Rs385.6 billion in a Treasury bill auction against a target of Rs350 billion.
Cheaper fuel also lifted sentiment. Petrol prices fell to Rs352.59 a litre from Rs377.91, and diesel to Rs382.25 from Rs402.96, after the drop in global oil prices. Pakistan’s trade deficit stood at $3.9 billion in October, with exports rising 2.8 percent to $2.9 billion and imports up 11.8 percent to $6.8 billion.
The rupee was steady, closing marginally firmer at Rs276.66 to the dollar. Analysts expect the market to stay sensitive to developments in the US-Iran talks and to oil prices, with the MSCI index review due on 11 November also in focus. The KSE-100 is currently trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.3 times, offering a dividend yield of 6.8 percent.
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