PSX climbs as investors anticipate good news from IMF

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed in the green owing to a bull run triggered by an announcement from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding its Executive Board meeting with Pakistani officials.

As per reports, the meeting could unlock a $1.3 billion disbursement for Pakistan under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), along with a new 28-month agreement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility. 

Trading hours began with a selloff, causing the KSE-100, the benchmark index of the PSX, to reach an intraday low of 112,935.56 points at approximately 11:17 AM. 

Data from the PSX reveals that the KSE-100 index then witnessed a rally, causing the market to hit an intraday high of 115,040.58 points before closing at 114,872.18 points.

For reference, the KSE-100 closed at 114,063.90 points on Monday, after which the index recorded a growth of 0.71 percent during trading hours on Tuesday, allowing for an 808.28 point rise.

The index continued to climb despite border tensions escalating with neighbouring India. While a minor sell-off was noted as news of Pakistan shooting down an Indian quadcopter broke, investors seemed eager to park their funds into the PSX. 

Of the 17 indices on the PSX, 16 remained in the green, with the UPP9 index being the only index in the red. The index shrank marginally by 0.01 percent, which translates into a 4.19-point decline. 

The Allshare (ALLSHR) index climbed by 346.22 points, which translates into a growth of 0.49 percent. Unlike the KSE-100, which tracks the performance of the 100 largest and most liquid companies, the ALLSHR index records the performance of all publicly listed companies on the PSX.

While recent global and regional geopolitical issues have caused a pullback in the PSX in recent weeks, data from the exchange reveals that the ALLSHR index has shot up by a staggering 52.44 percent over just one year, with the KSE-100 recording an even greater rise of 60.22 percent over a one-year period.

A vast array of companies witnessed a rise in share prices with Tri-Star Mutual Fund Limited (TSMF) and Apna Microfinance Bank Limited (AMBL) winning big, to the tune of growth rates that sat at 10.59 percent (TSMF) and 10.41 percent (AMBL). 

However, not every publicly listed stock witnessed an improvement, as many companies witnessed sharp declines. Of these declining companies, the one that fared the worst during intra-day trading was First Capital Equities Limited (FCEL), which posted a 13.62 percent decline in its position.

PSX climbs as investors anticipate good news from IMF

The trading volume of regular stocks stood at an impressive 409,933,985 shares, translating to a total value of over 29 billion rupees.