The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a positive momentum as the KSE-100 Index was traded above the 40,000 level during intra-day trading.
This was due to the expected inflows from Saudi Arabia, which drove the upward momentum in the market. At around 11:00am, the KSE-100 Index was being traded at 40,162.33, showing an increase of 445.18 points or 1.12%.
The buying trend was across-the-board, with index-heavy sectors such as automobile, cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil & gas exploration companies, and OMCs trading positively.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been keen on the revival of its bailout programme to stabilize Pakistan’s economy, which has been hit by a severe dollar shortage in recent months with critically low levels of reserves held by the central bank.
Reports suggested that Saudi Arabia has assured the IMF of depositing $2 billion in Pakistan, a significant step for the revival of the programme. Analysts say that this is a crucial development for the resumption of the stalled IMF programme.
Saad Khan, Head of Research at IGI Securities, said that “the positive sentiment is lead by news regarding Saudi Arabia,” adding that “inflows of $1 billion deposits from the UAE are also expected this week.” He further noted that the current account deficit is expected to be at $6 billion, which is a good number for the country.
