KSE-100 rises 0.61% as investors remain hopeful of IMF programme revival

After closing in the red for the past three days, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw renewed buying interest on Thursday and the KSE-100 rose 0.61%.

Investors took cue from reports that International Monetary Fund (IMF) remains engaged with Pakistan for the 9th tranche of loan programme.

At close, the KSE-100 Index settled was up 250.68 points or 0.61% to close at 41,325.63 level.

KSE-100 remains on losing side as political crisis deepens

Trading began upward and the market remained in the green zone throughout the session. Political noise impacted trading after mid-day but strong investor sentiment made it close with a gain.

Automobile, cement, banking and fertiliser segment saw modest buying activity.

A report from Arif Habib Limited stated that bulls returned to the PSX after three consecutive depressive sessions.

“The market began in the green as the IMF confirmed that talks between the government and the IMF mission were underway for the delivery of the 9th tranche from the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility,” it said. “However, rupee plunged against the dollar later in the day, and investor confidence suffered as a result lackluster activity was witnessed.”

Volumes were reasonable across the board, with third-tier stocks remaining in the spotlight, the report said.

A report from Capital Stake stated that PSX managed to recover losses made in previous session despite political pressure reaching its peak.

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

On the economic front, the deteriorating political situation in the country played on investors’ minds as the Pakistani rupee plunged to a fresh low of 298.93 against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Thursday. The currency finished with a decline of Rs8.71 or 2.91%.

Sectors painting the benchmark KSE-100 index in green included cement (66.10 points), oil and gas exploration (48.30 points) and banking (40.83 points).

Volume on the all-share index contracted to 96.9 million from 99.2 million on Wednesday, while the value of shares traded fell to Rs2.9 billion from Rs3.3 billion recorded in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 17.2 million shares followed by PIAC (A) with 4.8 million shares and Quice Food with 4.3 million shares.

Shares of 301 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 180 registered an increase, 96 recorded a fall and 25 remained unchanged.