The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its positive trajectory as the benchmark KSE-100 index gained nearly 600 points during trading on Tuesday.
At 12:40pm, the benchmark index was hovering at 79,416.32, an increase of 591.99 points or 0.75%.
Across-the-board buying was witnessed among index-heavy sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, engineering, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs and refinery.
Index-heavy stocks including SHEL, SNGPL, OGDC, PPL, HBL, NBP and MCB traded in green.
In a key development, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said prior actions for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme are largely complete, adding that some structural benchmarks will also be met as Islamabad moves ahead to secure a larger and long-term deal.
The remarks from the former CEO and president of HBL came during Aaj News programme News Insight with Amir Zia. The show was aired Monday night.
The minister said that the upcoming IMF deal should be referred to as a “Pakistan programme” for implementing structural reforms needed to transform the country’s economy.
On Monday, positive sentiment prevailed at the PSX as the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained nearly 400 points during the first trading session of fiscal year 2024-25 to settle at 78,824.33.
Globally, the Asia equities were mixed as investors weighed the possibility of another Donald Trump presidency after last week’s poor debate performance by incumbent Joe Biden.
Speculation about a second term for the Republican rose on the Supreme Court’s ruling that all former leaders had “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for “official acts” taken while in office but could still face criminal penalties for “unofficial acts.”
The decision comes as Trump faces criminal charges over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, but that trial had been put on hold while judges considered his immunity claims.
That led to calls for him to step down due to worries over his mental state, but Democrats have pushed back and are reportedly seeking a vote next month that would formally make him the party candidate for November’s poll.
This is an intra-day update
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