PSX maintains bullish trend, KSE-100 gains nearly 1,000 points
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its bullish trend as the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained nearly 1,000 points during the opening hours of trading on Monday.
At 11:10am, the benchmark index was hovering at 72,863.83, an increase of 961.74 points or 1.34%.
Across-the-board buying was witnessed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies and OMCs. Index-heavy shares including PSO, SSGC, SNGPL, OGDC, PPL and NBP were in the green.
The buying was witnessed as investor sentiment was buoyed by optimism surrounding the potential deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and falling inflation figures that renewed hope of a cut in the key policy rate.
In a key development, it was learned that an IMF mission is expected to visit Pakistan this month to discuss a new programme, the lender said on Sunday ahead of Islamabad beginning its annual budget-making process for the next financial year.
Pakistan last month completed a short-term $3 billion programme, which helped stave off sovereign default, but the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the need for a fresh, longer term programme.
“A mission is expected to visit Pakistan in May to discuss the FY25 budget, policies, and reforms under a potential new programme for the welfare of all Pakistanis,” the IMF said in an emailed response to Reuters.
Globally, Asian stocks rose to their highest in over a year on Monday on renewed bets that the Federal Reserve would most likely ease rates this year, while the yen weakened after a strong surge last week from Tokyo’s suspected currency intervention.
Trading was thin in Asia with Japan out for a holiday, though markets in mainland China got off to an upbeat start after returning from an extended break.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan peaked at their highest since February 2023 and last gained 0.53%, while China’s blue-chip index jumped 1.5%.
During the previous week, the PSX remained under pressure due to selling mainly by local investors and institutions.
The benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 840.65 points on week-on-week basis and closed at 71,902.09 points.
This is an intra-day update