PSX crosses historic 81,000 mark as investors pin hope on IMF deal M Haris

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) surpassed the 81,000-point barrier on the back of aggressive buying by both local and foreign investors coupled with institutional support.

The PSX’s benchmark KSE-100 index rose by 483.98 points or 0.6% to jump to 81,050.18 points during the intraday trade at 11:40am, up from the previous session’s close of 80,566.20 points.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp, while speaking to Geo.tv, said that the stocks reached all time high as the investors weigh deliberation on privatisation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) after the assurance given by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to hold Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) bidding process in August.

Mehanti also attributed the gain to recovery of rupee against the dollar as well as investors’ hopes on new International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal. 

“Easy SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) policy rates played a catalyst role in bullish activity at PSX,” he said. 

Alpha Beta Core CEO and economic analyst Khurram Schehzad said that the “soon-to-begin IMF talks for the new larger and longer program has given investors confidence in economic reforms and more stability in the economy.”

“As a result, market stands inexpensive on multiples so investors continue to take exposures,” he added. 

A day earlier, stocks recorded an increase of 353.41 points or 0.44% to close at 80,566.21 points.