The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its positive momentum on Wednesday, gaining over 550 points in early morning trade.
The benchmark KSE-100 index had risen 554.29 points, or 1.32 percent, to reach 42,650.53 points at 10:18am, according to the PSX website.
Raza Jafri, the director of research at Intermarket Securities, linked the increase in the stock market to anticipation of investment from the United Arab Emirates and the nation’s progress toward the restart of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.
Jafri claimed that as Pakistan nears the restart of the IMF program, the economy is stabilizing. “This is bringing corporate profitability and the attractively low valuations into focus.
Investor interest is being sparked by the anticipated investment from the UAE, especially in energy stocks, according to Jafri.
The state news agency of the UAE, WAM, said last week that the kingdom planned to invest $1 billion in Pakistani businesses across a range of industries.
The UAE is determined to continue working with Pakistan “in different domains, including gas, energy infrastructure, renewable energy, and health care.”
Salman Naqvi, head of research at Aba Ali Habib Securities, stated that a number of reasons, including the IMF’s assurance, the UAE’s investment, and the dollar’s devaluation, were causing the market to respond favorably.
“Due to the IMF’s assurance that Pakistan will receive the tranches and the significant fall in the import bill, which has lowered both the trade deficit and the current account deficit, the market has been rising over the past few days.
In addition, the Pakistan Investment Bond yield has increased. It’s obvious that Pakistan has left the default category now, he continued.
Since July 29, the dollar has declined by 7% on the interbank market, according to Naqvi, and after the IMF tranches and $4 billion in contributions from friendly nations are received, the dollar may decline considerably more. “Its impact will have a very positive impact on our economy,” he added.
