Karachi October 13 2023: KSE 100 Index gains more than 700 points on anticipation of interest rate hike and strengthening of currency to close above 49,000 for the first time since 9th June 2017.
KSE 100 index gains 721.76 points to close at the level of 49,493 in today’s trading at Pakistan Stock Exchange. A total of 556,389,862 shares valuing PKR 15.450 billion were traded during the day as compared to 342,287,229 shares valuing PKR 11.735 billion the previous day.
Governor SBP shared that with the policy rate at 22 percent, the SBP assesses the real interest rates turning substantially positive on a forwardlooking basis, as inflation is expected to come down significantly during the second half of this fiscal year. Going forward, the Stand-By arrangement with the IMF is expected to support the ongoing policy efforts to stabilize the economy.
Mr. Ahmad said that the stabilization measures have started yielding results. Inflation has come down to 31.4 percent in September 2023 after peaking at 38.0 percent in May 2023 and is expected to continue its downward trajectory over the coming months, whereas the external account has improved considerably and foreign exchange buffers are being built up.
The Governor also highlighted the shock-absorbing role of the market-determined exchange rate and the support from multilateral and bilateral lenders in addressing the external sector challenges. The current account deficit (CAD) reduced to 0.7 percent of GDP in FY23 from 4.7 percent in FY22. The earlier administrative measures that had contributed towards the lowering of CAD last year, are now withdrawn. Nonetheless, the ongoing stabilization measures and flexible exchange rate are expected to keep the CAD within the range of 0.5-1.5 percent of GDP in FY24.
As many as 362 companies transacted their shares in the stock market; 240 of them recorded gains and 101 sustained losses, whereas the share price of 21 companies remained unchanged.
The three top-trading companies were K-Electric Ltd with 134,871,750 shares at PKR 3.13 per share, PTCL with 48,393,000 shares at PKR 7.12 per share and WorldCall Telecom with 33,564,554 shares at PKR 1.34 per share.
