The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw a significant uptick in its benchmark KSE-100 Index, which surged by over 700 points in the latter half of trading on Thursday, driven by positive corporate earnings reports.
Initially flat for most of the session, the index experienced a notable rise following announcements from major companies. By 3:15 PM, the KSE-100 Index was at 77,862.08, marking an increase of 747.59 points or 0.97%.
The rally was spurred by MARI’s financial results, which included substantial bonus shares and dividends, setting off a wave of optimism and pushing up the share prices of other market leaders.
Key sectors such as cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration, and OMCs saw increased buying activity. Notable index-heavy stocks like OGDCL, MARI, MEBL, PPL, HBL, and NBP were all in positive territory.
Sana Tawfik, Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited, highlighted that the buying surge was largely driven by impressive financial performances from major players like Meezan Bank and Mari Petroleum.
Meezan Bank reported consolidated earnings of Rs26.89 billion for Q2 ending June 30, 2024, a 55% increase from the previous year’s Rs17.39 billion. Similarly, MARI posted a profit-after-tax (PAT) of Rs77.28 billion for 2024, up nearly 38% from Rs56.13 billion the previous year.
In contrast, PSX had shown mixed results on Wednesday, closing negatively as investors took profits. Globally, while China’s stocks saw modest gains, broader Asian markets remained subdued. The MSCI Asia ex-Japan index fell by 0.38%, and Japan’s Nikkei index closed down 0.74%.
