KSE-100 index crosses 117k barrier after fifth successive rate cut of 2024

A day after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reduced the policy rate by 200 basis points to bring it down to 13% in its last meeting on Dec 16 (Monday), the stocks got a new catalyst.The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), which was already scaling new peaks with every passing day, the latest rate cut proved another shot in the arm of the stock market as the benchmark KSE-100 index gained more than 800 points during the opening hours of trading, hovering at 117,039 points.Buying was all the rage in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refinery, while selling pressure was witnessed in commercial banks and the power generation sector.It must be noted that this was the fifth successive policy rate cut since June 2024 when the rate was 22%.