KARACHI – After several days of sustained selling, the Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed a strong recovery on Wednesday, driven by renewed investor confidence amid expectations of fund disbursement from the International Monetary Fund.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by more than 900 points in early trading. By 9:35am, the index was recorded at 169,329.62 points, reflecting an increase of 917.39 points, or 0.54 per cent.
Market analysts described the recovery as a positive technical development, noting that maintaining the 169,000 level could pave the way for further gains toward the 170,000 mark. Improved sentiment was attributed to anticipated IMF support and ongoing regulatory reforms aimed at enhancing market access.
Buying activity was observed across major sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, oil marketing firms, power generation, and refineries. Heavily weighted stocks such as ARL, HUBCO, OGDC, PPL, POL, MARI, MCB, MEBL, and UBL traded in positive territory.
A day earlier, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb stated that Pakistan had met most of the IMF’s conditions and expressed optimism that the Fund’s executive board would approve the next tranche of $1.2 billion on May 8. He added that the approval would help ease external financing pressures and support the country’s balance of payments, while an IMF mission is expected in mid-May to discuss the upcoming budget.
On Tuesday, the PSX had remained under pressure for a second consecutive session, largely due to investor reaction to the State Bank of Pakistan raising the policy rate by 100 basis points. The KSE-100 Index had closed at 168,412.23 points, down 1,085.12 points, or 0.64 per cent, amid broad-based selling.
In global markets, Asian stocks showed a mixed trend as concerns over tensions involving Iran and uncertainty surrounding the technology sector weighed on sentiment ahead of key monetary policy decisions by the Federal Reserve and earnings announcements from major tech firms.
Meanwhile, the oil prices edged higher, with Brent crude rising to $111.71 per barrel amid stalled diplomatic efforts to resolve the Iran situation. US President Donald Trump was reported to be dissatisfied with Tehran’s latest proposal, insisting that nuclear issues be addressed upfront.
