KARACHI : Stocks scaled a new peak on Friday, with the benchmark index surpassing the 82,000 mark during intraday trade, as forecasts of declining inflation and hopes of further monetary loosening by the central bank spurred a buying spree, traders said.
The KSE-100 index jumped by 615.16 points, or 0.76%, to reach 82,074.44 from its previous close of 81,459.28.
The index, fuelled by buying activity in heavyweight shares, rallied nearly 900 points during the opening hours of trading before succumbing to profit-taking in the latter half of the session, trimming early gains.
Analysts attributed this bull run to expectations of a sharp drop in inflation and interest rates. They added that government securities now have a kinked yield curve, with 2-year and 5-year yields above the 3-year yield.
Buying activity was seen in key sectors, including cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, and refineries, with index-heavy stocks such as MEBL, UBL, ENGRO, and FFC trading in the green.
Arif Habib Limited (AHL), a brokerage house, in its post-market note said the last trading day of the week saw heavy trade in the first half on the back to the FTSE rebalancing, which saw domestic and foreign counters active on the buy side soaking up the supply.
On Friday 58 shares rose while 40 fell with the largest positive index contributions coming from HBL PA (+6.84%), MEBL PA (+4.61%), MCB PA (+4.15%)