Bullish momentum persists, KSE-100 up 500 points
Bullish momentum persisted at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on the back of improved economic indicators as the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained nearly 500 points during the trading session on Friday.
At 3:15pm,, the benchmark KSE-100 Index was hovering at 78,855.60 level, an increase of 505.94 points or 0.65%.
Across-the-board buying was witnessed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refinery.
On Thursday, the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed higher by 357 points to settle at 78,349.66.
In a key development, Moody’s Ratings (Moody’s) upgraded the government of Pakistan’s local and foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa2 from Caa3, and changed the outlook to positive from stable.
The global credit rating agency said that “there is now greater certainty on Pakistan’s sources of external financing, following the sovereign’s staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 12 July 2024 for a 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of $7 billion”.
“We expect the IMF Board to approve the EFF in the next few weeks,” it said.
Globally, Asian stocks rose on Friday and were poised for a solid end to August, while the dollar was staring at its worst monthly performance in nine months on the view that the Federal Reserve is all but certain to cut interest rates next month.
The release of the US core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, as well as a reading on euro zone inflation take centre stage later on Friday and are likely to offer further clues on the rate outlook across major economies.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last up 0.77%, and was set for a gain of 2.3% for the month.
The main focus for investors remains on the pace and scale of Fed rate cuts this year, with those bets further cemented after a chorus of Fed speakers signalled their intention to do so as early as next month.
Markets have priced in about 100 basis points (bps) worth of easing by the end of the year, with about a 32.5% chance of an outsized 50 bps cut in September.