Bullish momentum continued on Tuesday at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) driven by optimism over a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal as the benchmark KSE-100 settled above the 79,000 level for the first time in history.
During the trading session, the benchmark index accumulated gains all day long while volume appreciated as compared to the previous session.
At close, the KSE-100 index settled at 79,552.89, an increase of 728.55 points or 0.92%.
Across-the-board buying was witnessed among index-heavy sectors including cement, chemical, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and pharmaceuticals.
Index-heavy stocks including PSO, SHEL, SNGPL, OGDC, PPL, POL, HBL, NBP and MCB settled in green.
In a key development, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said prior actions for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme are largely complete, adding that some structural benchmarks will also be met as Islamabad moves ahead to secure a larger and long-term deal.
The remarks from the former CEO and president of HBL came during Aaj News programme News Insight with Amir Zia. The show was aired Monday night.
The minister said that the upcoming IMF deal should be referred to as a “Pakistan programme” for implementing structural reforms needed to transform the country’s economy.
On Monday, positive sentiment prevailed at the PSX as the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained nearly 400 points during the first trading session of fiscal year 2024-25 to settle at 78,824.33.
Globally, the Asia equities were mixed as investors weighed the possibility of another Donald Trump presidency after last week’s poor debate performance by incumbent Joe Biden.
Speculation about a second term for the Republican rose on the Supreme Court’s ruling that all former leaders had “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for “official acts” taken while in office but could still face criminal penalties for “unofficial acts.”
The decision comes as Trump faces criminal charges over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, but that trial had been put on hold while judges considered his immunity claims.
That led to calls for him to step down due to worries over his mental state, but Democrats have pushed back and are reportedly seeking a vote next month that would formally make him the party candidate for November’s poll.
The Pakistani rupee saw a marginal depreciation of 0.01% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Monday.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 413.15 million from 306.04 million in the previous session.
The value of shares rose to Rs16.6 billion from Rs13.7 billion in the last session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 23.8 million shares, followed by K-Electric Limited with 23.1 million shares, and National BankXD with 20.13 million shares.
Shares of 431 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 246 registered an increase, 128 recorded a fall, while 57 remained unchanged.
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