The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a bullish sentiment on Wednesday as its benchmark KSE-100 rallied 492 points on the government’s assurance that Islamabad was in the advanced stages of securing external financing required to win a $7-billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal.
The KSE-100 started the session with a buying spree, hitting an intra-day high of 78,890.79 in the first half, and the bulls managed to maintain their grip till the end of the day.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 78,848.01, up by 491.69 points or 0.63%.
“This positive momentum followed the Finance Minister’s remarks that the IMF’s $7 billion Extended Fund Facility approval is on track, with Pakistan nearing assurances on external financing,” brokerage house Topline Securities said in its post-market report.
Key stocks, including MARI, OGDC, EFERT, LUCK, and BAHL, drove the market’s rise, contributing 290 points to the index.
Another brokerage house Ismail Iqbal Securities said the finance minister’s assurance had lifted investor confidence, which led to a positive sentiment in the market.
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday said the government was in the “advanced stages” of seeking assurances around external financing, remarks that came as the government scrambled to secure Executive Board approval for the finalisation of its $7 billion loan from the IMF.
“On discussions with the IMF, we are in advanced stages in terms of getting assurances around our external financing,” Aurangzeb said while giving a briefing.
“We are hopeful that the IMF Executive Board will approve this programme on time,” he said, lauding the role of provincial governments.
On Tuesday, the KSE-100 ended with a fractional gain of 73 points, following a roller-coaster ride with several ups and downs amid lack of positive triggers.
On Wednesday, Aurangzeb held a meeting with a delegation of international investors led by Amin Mohammad Khowaja, CEO of J.P. Morgan Pakistan.
The high-level discussions centered on the interests of the institutional investors exploring fixed-income investment opportunities in Pakistan’s economy, said the Finance Division in a statement.
Pakistan’s pharmaceutical company BF Biosciences Limited (BFBL) entered into a contract manufacturing and supply agreement with Lucky Core Industries Limited (LCI).
The development was shared by Ferozsons Laboratories Limited, the parent company of BFBL, in a notice to the PSX on Wednesday.
Chakwal Spinning Mills Limited (CLOUD) claimed that reports around the company’s management being involved in inside trading with certain investors were false.
The listed company, in a notice to the PSX, also denied reports suggesting it did not disclose all material information regarding its new technology setup.
Meanwhile, the United States warned Pakistan of the potential ramifications of considering business deals with Iran.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller in response to a query about the Iran-Pak gas pipeline project said, “So what I’ll say is that we will continue to enforce our sanctions against Iran. And as a matter of course, we also advise anyone considering business deals with Iran to be aware of the potential ramifications of those deals.”
Globally, Asian shares and global stock futures tumbled on Wednesday while oil prices hit multi-month lows as a sharp tech selloff on Wall Street and resurgent worries about US growth drove investors out of risky assets.
Japan’s Nikkei led the slump in Asia, falling more than 3%, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 1.6% in early trade.
September has historically been a bad month for stocks, though analysts pointed to a confluence of factors behind the rout, including tepid US manufacturing data.
Wall Street closed sharply lower overnight after the US returned from a holiday at the start of the week, with AI darling Nvidia tumbling nearly 10% as investors reined in their enthusiasm about artificial intelligence.
The Pakistani rupee registered a marginal decline against the US dollar, depreciating 0.03% in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. At close, the currency settled at 278.77, a loss of Re0.07 against the US dollar.
Volume on the all-share index jumped to 969.77 million from 436.67 million on Tuesday.
The value of shares also rose to Rs17.51 billion from Rs12.25 billion in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 234.64 million shares, followed by Pervez Ahmed Co with 48.69 million shares, and Kohinoor Spining with 45.08 million shares.
Shares of 443 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 259 registered an increase, 138 recorded a fall, while 46 remained unchanged.
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