ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s benchmark share index breached the 72,000 barrier to close at a record high of 72,051.89 points, up 1 percent on Wednesday, data from the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) showed.
The Pakistani bourse has recently been trading at record highs amid positive sentiment prevailing among investors due to hopes of the country’s successful talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new loan program.
The country’s finance minister, Muhammad Aurangzeb, recently visited Washington to hold talks with IMF officials for a long-term bailout facility as Pakistan’s current $3 billion program is due to expire this month.
The finance minister expressed hopes the outline of the new program would soon become visible, adding that the loan would help Pakistan continue with structural economic reforms.
“This surge, propelled by positive shifts in market sentiment in the backdrop of anticipation in economic metrics such as foreign exchange reserves and inflation trends, has ignited expectations of forthcoming monetary easing,” Topline Securities, a Karachi-based brokerage company, said on social media platform X.
Topline Securities said the trading activity remained robust throughout the day, with approximately 599.29 million shares totaling Rs24.45 billion in value exchanged.
Pakistan’s benchmark KSE100 index has surged 75.5 percent over the past year and is up 11.5 percent year-to-date.
The equity market is expected to surge further as an IMF delegation arrives in Pakistan next month to determine the contours of the new loan facility.
“We are still hoping that we can get into a staff-level agreement [with the IMF] by the time June is done or early July so that we can move on,” the finance minister said on Tuesday while addressing a news conference in Islamabad.
