Buying rally continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 500 points during the opening hours of trading on Wednesday.
At 9:40am, the benchmark index was hovering at 13,221.38 level, an increase of 477.59 points or 0.42%.
Across-the-board buying was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks including NRL, HUBCO, SNGPL, OGDC, PPL, MARI, MCB, MEBL and UBL traded in the green.
In a key development, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday told Reuters that Pakistan was “well positioned” for the first review of its $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme.
Islamabad secured the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility last summer to help claw its way out of an economic crisis, with an immediate disbursement of about $1 billion.
The review, if cleared and approved by the lender’s board, could unlock another tranche of funding for cash-strapped Pakistan ahead of its annual budget which is usually presented in June.
On Tuesday, positive momentum returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index settling with a gain of over 750 points at 112,743.79.
Globally, India’s benchmark indexes opened higher on Wednesday, led by information technology stocks and tracking other Asian peers as the US Commerce chief hinted at some relief on Canada and Mexico tariffs.
The Nifty 50 rose 0.27% to 22,142.2 by 9:22 a.m. IST, while the BSE Sensex added 0.29% to 73,217.9.
Eleven of the 13 major sectors advanced at the open, with IT index rising 1.2%.
Most Asian markets gained on the day, with the MSCI Asia ex Japan adding 1%, on hopes of a partial roll-back of US tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
Investors are monitoring President Donald Trump’s address with Congress to see if there are any cues in future tariff actions.
This is an intra-day update
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