The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a significant surge on Tuesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index soared by over 700 points during the initial hours of trading.
By 11:40 am, the KSE-100 index stood at 74,362.27, marking a notable increase of 563.16 points or 0.76%. Notably, robust buying activity was observed across various sectors, including commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, and refinery.
Key index-heavy stocks such as OGDC, PPL, PSO, SNGPL, HBL, and NBP experienced positive momentum, contributing to the overall bullish sentiment.
Investors attributed this buying spree to encouraging progress in negotiations between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistani authorities regarding a new programme. Notably, Wall Street bank Citi projected Pakistan to secure an agreement with the IMF for a new four-year programme, potentially amounting to $7-8 billion, by the end of July.
Nikola Apostolov, representing Citi, highlighted the possibility of a larger and longer IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, coupled with potential inflows of Saudi investments, in a note to clients.
In a parallel development, the government of Pakistan initiated discussions on further engagement with the IMF, as confirmed by an official statement from the Finance Division. The IMF mission, led by Nathan Porter, IMF Mission Chief, met with the finance minister at the Finance Ministry to explore avenues of collaboration.
Monday also witnessed a bullish session at the PSX, with the benchmark KSE-100 closing nearly 1% higher at 73,799.11, registering an impressive gain of 713.61 points. This robust performance underscores the optimistic outlook of investors amidst evolving economic dynamics and international negotiations.
