KARACHI
\nPakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) surged for the fourth week in a row and the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 1,508.73 points (+3.2 percent) on a week-on-week basis.
\nHowever, the week starting today (Monday) is different from preceding four weeks due to important developments on the political front, as markets do move on political events and uncertain conditions. It will be interesting to see how the bourse behaves in the backdrop of former prime minister Imran Khan\u2019s arrest. Though the market was expecting Khan\u2019s arrest and it was built in, a major impact is highly unlikely unless there are widespread protests.
\nThis week is also particularly interesting as the interim government will also be announced and it is yet to see how the stock market welcomes the caretaker set-up, which is expected to be installed in the second half of this week. The appointment of a pro-market person as caretaker prime minister will improve the investors\u2019 confidence and vice versa.
\nOn the other hand, several favourable factors may drive the stock market to maintain a positive trajectory in the week, including the expected decision regarding the refinery policy and the resolution of circular debt. Analysts from Arif Habib Limited have expressed confidence that these developments will bolster investor sentiment.
\nThe announcement of the refinery policy and the resolution of circular debt are highly anticipated events that are likely to have a significant impact on the stock market. As a result, investors are optimistic about the potential opportunities in various sectors and specific company stocks, especially with the ongoing result season, where robust financial results are expected, they opined. They expressed their confidence in the market\u2019s upward trajectory, citing the forthcoming announcement of financial results as another key factor.
\nThe benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by 1,156.26 points (+2.52 percent), 852.75 points (+1.89 percent) and 861 points (+1.95 percent) in the preceding three weeks. Overall, the index gained 4,378.74 points during the last four weeks. The KSE-100 Index has gained 7,132.73 points since the government signed the Staff Level Agreement (SLA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on June 30.
\nDuring the last week, the PSX maintained a bull-run for the first three sessions. The benchmark index breached the 48,000 points level after almost two years and settled at 48,035 points on Monday after closing above 47,000 points after 21 months in the previous session. The stocks extended gains by 196 points on Tuesday to reach 48,231 points. Bulls continued to dominate at the PSX on Wednesday, with the benchmark index gaining 534.05 points to close at 48,764.55 points. This had been the highest closing of the benchmark index since June 09, 2017 when the index closed at 49,527 points.
\nThursday\u2019s session proved a volatile one as the PSX crossed the threshold of 49,000 level after a gap of six years before moving towards correction, losing 153.37 points to close at 48,611.18 points. It was June 9, 2017 when the benchmark index crossed 49,000 points mark last time.
\n The market witnessed another volatile session on Friday, losing 25.47 points to close at 48,585.71 points. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) surged for the fourth week in a row and the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 1,508.73 points (+3.2 percent) on a week-on-week basis. However, the week starting today (Monday) is different from preceding four weeks due to important developments on the political front, as markets do move on political events and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347603,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-347586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n