ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s benchmark share index jumped over 7,000 points on Tuesday, with analysts attributing the spike to easing geopolitical and domestic tensions, which lifted investor sentiment.
The KSE-100 index surged by 7,032.60 points, or 4.44 percent, to close at 165,476.02, compared to the previous close of 158,443.42.
Sana Tawfik, the Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited, said the index surged past the 165,000 level, marking one of the largest point gains in the history of the index.
“The rally was fueled by easing geopolitical and domestic political tensions, coupled with renewed investor interest as the results season commenced,” she told Arab News over the phone.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) fell sharply on Monday as cross-border hostilities between Pakistan and Afghanistan prompted broad-based selling across key sectors.
The two neighbors exchanged heavy cross-border fire over the weekend, leaving 23 Pakistani soldiers and over 200 Afghan Taliban fighters dead, according to the Pakistan military.
The country also witnessed clashes between the government and a religio-political party striving to march on Islamabad in the last few days before their movement was halted on the outskirts of eastern Lahore.
Meanwhile, Ahsan Mehanti, Chief Executive Officer of Arif Habib Commodities, said stocks showed a strong recovery as investors welcomed improving Pakistan-US relations, progress on the Gaza ceasefire deal and easing tensions with Afghanistan.
“Renewed hopes for a positive Pakistan-International Monetary Fund and World Bank review meeting for the release of an IMF tranche next month played a catalytic role in record bullish activity at the PSX,” he said.
Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb arrived in Washington on Sunday to attend the IMF and World Bank annual meetings and hold talks on investment, taxation and economic reforms.
