KSE-100 jumps 0.81% amid rumours of financing from ‘friendly country’

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a bullish session on Wednesday and the benchmark KSE-100 index crossed the 40,000 level once again amid reports that UAE will confirm funding of $1 billion for Pakistan.

The stock market rose as the funding is vital to pave the way for the resumption of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme for Pakistan.

By the end of the session, the KSE-100 Index rose 321.34 points or 0.81% to close at 40,126.05 level.

Trading began with a jump and the KSE-100 Index rose steadily throughout the session.

Index heavy automobile, cement, fertiliser, banking and oil sectors closed with gains.

KSE-100 falls marginally in mixed session

Across-the-board buying was witnessed with the index-heavy sectors including, automobile, cement, chemical, commercial banks, pharmaceuticals and refinery trading in the green.

Experts said that the improvement in market sentiments comes amid reports that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is likely to confirm financing of $1 billion in the coming days.

Days ago, Minister of State for Finance, Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha said Saudi Arabia has assured the International Monetary Fund (IMF) it will provide a $2 billion loan to the South Asian country.

However, the IMF agreement still rests on a similar commitment from the United Arab Emirates for a $1 billion loan, added the minister.

Talks with the IMF for a delayed $1.1 billion loan tranche, part of the bailout agreed upon in 2019, have dragged on and foreign exchange reserves have fallen to less than four weeks of imports.

Meanwhile, the Fund revised downward the GDP growth rate projection for Pakistan from 2% to 0.5% for the current fiscal year.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that a positive session was witnessed at PSX on Wednesday.

“The KSE-100 index opened in the green and continued to trade with positive sentiments throughout the trading session, reaching an intraday high of 368.05 points due to media reports suggesting UAE’s written assurance to IMF to provide $1 billion to Pakistan, for unlocking the delayed tranche of the IMF’s Extended Facility Fund in upcoming weeks,” the report said.

“Although Investors’ participation remained sluggish during the trading session volumes in the main board remained dry while third tier companies continued to dominate the volume board.”

A report from Capital Stake stated that bulls of the PSX made a comeback on Wednesday.

“Indices accumulated gains all day long while volumes appreciated from last close,” it said.

On economic front, rupee recovered Rs1.81 or 0.63% against the US dollar to close at 286.62.

Sectors driving the benchmark KSE-100 index forward included technology and communication (95.21 points), banking (81.08 points) and oil and gas exploration (77.52 points).

Volume on the all-share index rose to 79.8 million from 59.7 million on Tuesday while the value of shares traded surged to Rs2.6 billion from Rs1.4 billion recorded in the previous session.

K-Electric Limited was the volume leader with 8.4 million shares followed by WorldCall Telecom with 4.1 million shares and Pakistan Petroleum with 3.8 million shares.

Shares of 328 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 172 registered an increase, 134 recorded a fall and 22 remained unchanged.