Fueled by positive market sentiments, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its upward trend, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index surpassing the historic 58,000 level during Wednesday’s trading session.
By 12 pm, the benchmark index had reached 58,035.58, marking a 1.16% increase or 664.00 points. The market witnessed broad-based buying, particularly in sectors such as automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration companies, and OMCs.
Tuesday saw the benchmark index gain 294 points or 0.51%, settling at 57,371.59.
The ongoing bullish trend is attributed to improved economic indicators in the country and the successful negotiations of the interim government with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the first review. This development is expected to unlock $700 million in funding, and analysts anticipate that it could attract additional inflows from other multilateral and bilateral partners post-review.
Mohammed Sohail, CEO of Topline Securities, noted the swift and somewhat anticipated recovery at PSX. He highlighted that the stock exchange has delivered a remarkable 50% return in USD terms over the past six months. Sohail expressed optimism, stating that the market’s price-to-earning ratio (PE) is still at remarkably low levels, indicating that the recovery is just beginning.
Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue, and Economic Affairs, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, conveyed optimistic developments in economic recovery during a meeting of the Donor Coordination Committee (DCC) at the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Tuesday.
Despite external challenges such as tightening global financial conditions and increasing commodity prices affecting Pakistan’s economy, Dr. Akhtar emphasized the noteworthy achievement of the successful review of the IMF staff-level agreement. She expressed confidence in the economic outlook, projecting a GDP growth ranging between 2 to 2.5% in the fiscal year 2024.
