Bulls toss KSE-100 index above historic 60,000 mark

• Benchmark index reached 60,845.60 points during intra-day trade.
• KSE-100 index closed at 60,730.26 points after it gained 918.92 points.
• "Recently, rally has extended after positive IMF review," says analyst.

The bullish trend continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark KSE-100 index crossed 60,000 points for the first time in history on Tuesday, with expectations of the rally to persist.

The benchmark index reached 60,845.60 points during the intra-day trade. However, the KSE-100 index closed 60,730.26 points after it gained 918.92 or 1.54%, up from the previous close of 59,811.34 points.

In November alone, the KSE-100 index has hiked by more than 8,500 points.

Muhammad Saad Ali, a capital market expert, said that KSE-100 has risen 48% since June.

Commenting on the recent positive rally, he said: "Recently the rally has extended after the IMF positive review, good macro data reinforcing market outlook for rate cuts in Dec MPC while global oil prices are under pressure and PKR-USD has stabilised."

The market also rallied positively on Monday as stocks continued their record-breaking run with the benchmark index closing just shy of the 60,000-point mark.

Analysts said the equities market has been thriving since the successful first review with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which will lead to the release of the next loan tranche.

Overall trading volumes reached 779.6 million shares compared with Monday's tally of 657.5 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs26.1 billion.

Shares of 392 companies were traded. Of these, 177 stocks closed higher, 200 fell, and 15 remained unchanged.

Kohinoor Spining was the volume leader trading in 79.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.02 to close at Rs4.02. It was followed by WorldCall Telecom with 57.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.04 to close at Rs1.56, and B.O.Punjab with 44.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.41 to close at Rs5.41.