PTBP Web Desk

An initial buying spree made way for selling pressure as investors took a stock of Pakistan’s economic condition despite the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approving Pakistan’s 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of about $7 billion.

At around noon, the KSE-100 Index had retreated from its intra-day high of 82,905.73 to hover around 82,605.38, still an increase of 357.47 points or 0.43%.

However, by the end of the session, the KSE-100 had plummeted near 81,625.40, a decrease of 622.51 points or 0.76%.

Earlier, the index jumped to near the 83,000 level – a historic intra-day high – as investors rejoiced yet another bailout for the country’s economy.

Most analysts generally see the IMF programme as an overall positive for Pakistan as it gives the government a much-needed roadmap for economic reforms, a task Islamabad tends to shy away from.

On Wednesday, the IMF Executive Board considered Pakistan’s request and authorised to immediately release the first loan tranche of nearly $1.1 billion, likely to be received by September 30.

The same day, PSX had also witnessed a bullish session as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed higher by 764 points, settling at 82,247.92 ahead of the IMF Board meeting.

Globally, Asian stocks bucked the global trend to extend a rally on Thursday, fuelled by persistent optimism over China’s aggressive stimulus package, although there were signs some of that enthusiasm was starting to ebb.

The sea of green across equities in Asia came even as Wall Street closed lower overnight with global stock indexes giving up their gains from earlier in the week.

Still, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose more than 1% to an over two-year high on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei surged 2.4%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index similarly advanced 1.5%, while the mainland CSI300 blue-chip index reversed early losses to last trade 0.3% higher.