Bulls toss Pakistan Stock Exchange index to historic high of 76,000
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The bulls were on the rampage at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday as share prices rocketed more than 900 points and were able to smash through the historic high of 76,000 after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it and Pakistan have made “significant progress” on a new loan programme, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
As the business was set into motion, the benchmark KSE-100 index hurried up by 913.89 points or 1.20 percent to reach 76,028.36 points from the previous close of 75,114.47 a little before noon on Friday.
Experts said the stocks went up sharply after an IMF mission said the global lender and Pakistan had made “significant progress” towards reaching a Staff-Level Agreement (SLA).
In addition to that, the United Arab Emirates’ pledge to invest $10 billion along with reports of Pakistan selling its stake in Reko Diq to Saudi Arabia also supported positive sentiments at the stock market.
On Thursday, the PSX’s benchmark KSE-100 Index had regained the 75,000 level as the index managed to post modest gains amid cautious trading. The index swayed both ways during trading before closing in the green.
At close, the benchmark index had settled at 75,114.47, up by 157.8 points or 0.21%.
After touching record highs in recent weeks, the market has turned in a cautious performance as investors look for fresh positive triggers ahead of State Bank’s monetary policy meeting and budget announcement.
Sectors driving the KSE-100 index forward included power generation and distribution, oil and gas exploratio, and oil and gas marketing.
Volume on the all-share index increased to 758.94 million from 584.48 million shares a session ago. The value of shares declined to Rs16.71 billion from Rs17.71 billion in the previous session.
K-Electric Ltd was the volume leader with 191.62 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 94.78 million shares, and Symmetry Group Ltd with 47.72 million shares.
Shares of 376 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 192 registered an increase, 156 recorded a fall, while 28 remained unchanged.
Reporter Ashraf Khan