KSE-100 index surpasses 41,000-mark as investors cheer host of positive developments
\n KARACHI
\nThe Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) soared during Wednesday\u2019s intraday trade as its benchmark KSE-100 index surged over 850 points after Islamabad completed the last pre-condition to revive the International Monetary Fund\u2019s (IMF) loan programme.
\nEncouraging financial results, rupee appreciation against the US dollar and an expected decline in oil import bills added fuel to the bullish trend as investors assumed fresh positions.
\nEconomist and former adviser to the federal ministry of finance Dr Khaqan Hassan Najeeb said that investors must remember company earnings are the real driver of share prices.
\n\u201cBut more recently, the macro fundamentals of the country have been dominant in driving the PSX lower,\u201d he said, noting that as the country inches back to an IMF programme, investor confidence can return to PSX.
\n\u201cValuations are low and astute investors know it is a reasonable time to buy at low P\/Es, companies with good earnings and solid management.\u201d
\nAt close, the benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 41,068.87 points with an increase of 877.26 points or 2.18%.
\nArif Habib Limited in its post-market commentary noted that the market witnessed a bull run after clarity on IMF programme resumption which resulted in rupee appreciation against the US dollar.
\n\u201cThe investors rejoiced over the news as KSE-100 went up by 1,016 points during the session giving bulls an upper hand to remain active throughout the day. Hefty volumes were witnessed in the main board,\u201d it noted.
\nSectors contributing to the performance included banks (+201.2 points), cement (+174.2 points), exploration and production (+92.2 points), oil marketing companies (+48.4 points), and fertiliser (+39.8 points).
\nAlpha Beta Core CEO Khurram Schezad said that once Pakistan gets IMF\u2019s $1.2 billion, there will be an unlocking of multilateral inflows, followed by bilateral and friendly countries.
\nThe inflows, coupled with global and local recession will impact oil and commodity prices across the world, as a result, there will be much lower imports \u2014 thereby lowering demand for dollar outflows.
\n\u00abThis should help improve the rupee against the US dollar, at least for some time. It should impact the PSX positively too,\u00bb he added.
\nShares of 348 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 258 scrips closed in the green, 68 in the red, and 22 remained unchanged.
\nOverall trading volumes rose to 333.02 million shares compared with Tuesday\u2019s tally of 217.50 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs10.01 billion.
\nWorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 32.49 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.02 to close at Rs1.19. It was followed by TPL Properties with 29.19 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.94 to close at Rs19.92 and Unity Foods with 22.89 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.29 to close at Rs19.04.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KSE-100 index surpasses 41,000-mark as investors cheer host of positive developments KARACHI The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) soared during Wednesday\u2019s intraday trade as its benchmark KSE-100 index surged over 850 points after Islamabad completed the last pre-condition to revive the International Monetary Fund\u2019s (IMF) loan programme. Encouraging financial results, rupee appreciation against the US dollar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-275514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n