Saudi Arabia’s $2bn: KSE-100 rallies to over 45,000 for the first time since April 2022

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued to see bullish sentiment on Tuesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index powered past the 45,000 level for the first time since April 2022 amid positive developments on the economic front.

Both volume and value of shares traded improved significantly compared to the previous session as investors actively hunted for stocks that have undergone a volatile ride in the absence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 45,155.79, an increase of 570.67 points or 1.28%. The KSE-100 has added 3,703 points since it began trading after the IMF agreement.

KSE-100 closes near 44,600 after 378-point gain

“The KSE-100 index crossed the 45,000 level after April 28, 2022 i.e. 14- month high,” stated brokerage house Topline Securities. “The index is up (nearly) 9% in the last seven working days following the staff-level agreement with the IMF.”

Across-the-board buying was witnessed in index-heavy sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, engineering, oil and gas exploration companies as well as OMCs trading in the green.

The index opened positive but a major boost came after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has received $2 billion from Saudi Arabia.

In a video message, the finance minister said more positive developments pertaining to the economy are expected in the coming days.

The said development helped investor confidence, said market experts, who added that Pakistan’s low level of foreign exchange reserves will get a boost after the inflow.

Last month, Pakistani authorities managed to clinch a last-minute staff-level agreement with the IMF on a $3 billion nine-month SBA. The development was expected to pave way for further funding from other multilateral and bilateral partners.

The IMF agreement already resulted in Fitch Ratings upgrading Pakistan’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘CCC’ from ‘CCC-’ on Monday.

On the economic front, the Pakistani rupee staged an intra-day recovery against the US dollar, strengthening 0.44% to settle at 278.57 in the inter-bank market on Tuesday.

Sectors driving the benchmark index upwards included banking (194.57 points), cement (93.76 points) and oil and gas exploration (81.66 points)

Volume on the all-share index rose to 555.1 million from 440.2 million on Monday, while the value of shares traded jumped to Rs15.5 billion from Rs12 billion recorded in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 35.1 million shares followed by Pak Refinery with 31.4 million shares and Fauji Foods Limited with 23.2 million shares.

Shares of 363 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 253 registered an increase, 92 recorded a fall and 18 remained unchanged.