KSE-100 jumps 800 points owing to optimism over IMF talks

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw a return of positive sentiment as the benchmark KSE-100 Index registered a gain of over 800 points on Tuesday, with investors having pinned their hopes on revival of the stalled International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

At the end of the session, the KSE-100 Index was up 801.79 points or 2.01% to close at 40,673.06.

KSE-100 falls over 500 points in aftermath of Peshawar blast

The market opened upward and maintained its rising momentum throughout the day.

Across the board buying was witnessed with index-heavy sectors including automobiles, cement, chemicals, commercial banks, pharmaceuticals, oil & gas exploration companies and OMCs trading in the green.

The optimism returned after the IMF team reached Islamabad on Tuesday, led by director Nathan Porter.

The delegation began technical-level meetings, which will continue till Friday, followed by policy-level talks.

The rupee also appreciated on Tuesday during the early part of the session, with the IMF programme driving the sentiment in the currency market as well.

Experts have termed resumption of the IMF programme crucial for the economy, which is gripped by a major crisis.

In recent days, the government has loosened controls on the rupee to rein in a rampant black market in US dollars in its bid to appease the international lender, a step that caused the currency to plunge to a record low.

Moreover, petrol prices have been hiked, while a mini-budget is also in the pipeline.

“Pakistan has already taken a number of steps to meet the prerequisites of the IMF, and the market expects that the remaining would be taken in the coming days during talks with the international lender,” Arsalan Siddiqui, Head of Research at Optimus Research, told Business Recorder.

“If the government takes the remaining measures, it would further build up expectations pertaining to the programme revival,” he said.

The KSE-100 Index had plunged on the opening day of the week with the Peshawar mosque suicide blast a reason behind the negative sentiment, according to analysts.

A report from Capital Stake stated that recovering losses made during the previous session, the PSX closed the session on Tuesday in green.

“Indices accumulated gains all day long while volumes increased from the previous close,” it said. “The possibility of revival of the IMF program helped in boosting investors’ confidence as a delegation arrived in Pakistan to discuss the revival of the stalled loan programme.”

Sectors painting the benchmark KSE-100 Index in green included fertiliser (165.98 points), banking (122.39 points) and oil and gas exploration (105.97 points).

Volume on the all-share index rose to 153.3 million from 140.5 million on Monday. The value of shares rose to Rs7.4 billion from Rs5.5 billion recorded in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 13.4 million shares, followed by Pak Petroleum with 10.2 million shares and Pak Refinery with 7.7 million shares.

Shares of 328 companies were traded on Tuesday, of which 217 registered an increase, 89 recorded a fall and 22 remained unchanged.