KARACHI: Stocks on Wednesday soared past the 80,000 mark, buoyed by the heightened investor interest in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and hopes of a rate cut.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 gained 739.71 points or 0.93% to reach at 80,292.59 points during the intraday as compared to yesterday’s close of 79,552.89 points.
Speaking to Geo.tv, EFG Hermes Pakistan’s CEO Raza Jafri said that gain was led by a burst of buying in SOEs such as National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) with press reports indicating a push on privatisation, strategic stake sales, and addressing legacy issues.
“This comes within increasing hopes of sizeable interest rate cuts in [second half of 2024] and timely entry into an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme,” he added.
Meanwhile, Intermarket Securities Director Research Saad Ali cited optimism regarding the IMF programme and continuation of macro recovery after the passing of the budget without much bottlenecks or big amendments as the major reason for the surge.
He added, “The market continues to re-rate from still low valuations and prospect of lower interest rates in future.”
A day earlier, stocks closed significantly higher at 79,552.89 points amid expectations of better earnings in the half-year results by SOEs in the oil sector.