At full throttle.

The KSE-100 index is doddering at the 32-month high of 46,000 points. Yet optimists, mainly brokerage houses, have projected the benchmark will settle between 52,400 and 60,000 points by the end of December.

If that seems too high, one ought to have heard former finance minister Dr Salman Shah tell a TV show host that it should not take much of strength for the index to reach 80,000 points by the end of the year provided there were no external shocks or mishaps.

He based his assertion on the premise that major economic and pandemic-related challenges had been handled well. 'We have a good relationship with all economic blocs. Normal access to the United States without discrimination, GSP-Plus status in the European Union and a free-trade agreement with China,' the former finance minister said.

Most analysts agree that the second wave of Covid-19 had little impact on the industrial output

Those who are betting on the good times to roll in at the stock market - which is already up by an incredible 18,863 points or 69 per cent in a little over nine months - are expecting stellar growth in underlying corporate profitability.

Intermarket SecuArities Head of Equities Raza Jafri observes that the July-September quarter was one of the best with regard to broad-based growth in company profits. The winter corporate result season is about to commence and chemical companies, pharmaceuticals and textiles could show splendid results. Textile and clothing exports grew 4.8pc year-on-year to $6.04bn in July-November, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The cement sector will return to profitability while flat steels are in demand by the appliances industry. Earnings of banks could remain stable while hefty dividends might be disbursed by big banks -

UBL, HBL and MCB - to compensate for three quarters of nil pay-outs due to a restriction by the central bank.

Foundation Securities said strong agronomics allowed fertiliser companies to retain the pricing power in both local and foreign markets. The sector's profitability is expected to grow by a phenomenal 84.7pc year-on-year due to better

DAP margins, reduction in GIDC and decline in finance cost owing to a 625-basis-point cut in the policy rate.

As for the automobile sector, Intermarket Securities said it expects the auto assemblers to post a combined profit after tax of Rs2.9bn for October-December, up from Rs2.4bn in the previous quarter on the back of 8pc quarterly growth in volumetric...