KSE-100 up 1.16% as market cheers revival of IMF programme

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) sustained its rally on Thursday as the KSE-100 index rose for a fourth consecutive session, with investors cheering a staff level agreement reached between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), announced in the early hours of the morning.

The accord signals an improvement in the economic conditions of the country as the next tranche of nearly $1.2 billion will help build foreign exchange reserves and eliminate the looming threat of default on the country.

IMF announces staff-level agreement with Pakistan

The market welcomed the development and investors assumed fresh positions.

At close, the KSE-100 index rose 486.14 points or 1.16% to settle at 42,348.91 points. The market has accumulated almost 1,250 points over the past four sessions.

KSE-100 gains over 500 points after final-hour buying over IMF news

Following a plethora of difficult decisions, the IMF team reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan authorities for the conclusion of the combined seventh and eighth reviews of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), with the agreement now subject to approval of the Executive Board.

“Subject to Board approval, about $1,177 million (SDR 894 million) will become available, bringing total disbursements under the programme to about $4.2 billion,” said the IMF in its statement.

Trading began with an uptick and the market kept trading in the positive zone throughout the day. Revival of investor-sentiment propped the market upward and helped it surpass the 42,000 point mark by day-end.

Index-heavy cement, banks and oil sectors saw modest buying activity and ended the session with gains.

A report from Capital Stake said indices accumulated gains all day long while volumes appreciated from last close.

Stage set to bring Pakistan out of economic difficulty, says PM Shehbaz after IMF nod

On the economic front, the rupee also gained at the IMF news. On Thursday afternoon, the currency was being quoted at 208.71, an appreciation of Rs1.39, against the dollar in the inter-bank market in inter-day trading.

Meanwhile, volume on the all-share index rose to 227.85 million from 164.83 million on Wednesday. The value of shares traded jumped to Rs7.43 billion from Rs6.49 billion recorded in the previous session.

K-Electric was the volume leader with 32.15 million shares, followed by TPL Properties Pipeline with 14.2 million shares, and Sui Southern Gas Company with 9.2 million shares.

Shares of 330 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 198 registered an increase, 101 recorded a fall, and 31 remained unchanged.