KSE-100 Surges Over 1,000 Points, Defying Economic Slowdown Signals

Bucking any signs of economic slowdown, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a robust surge as the benchmark KSE-100 index soared past the 61,000 level, marking a remarkable gain of over 1,000 points during Friday's trading session.

As of 3:30 pm, the KSE-100 index stood at 61,592.00, marking an impressive increase of 1,060.73 points or 1.75%. The rally was broad-based, with key sectors such as automobile assemblers, cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration, OMCs, and the refinery sector all trading in positive territory.

Thursday's closing saw the KSE-100 Index nearly flat, settling at 60,531.27, a marginal uptick of 0.05% or 29.27 points.

Noteworthy is the substantial return posted by the KSE-100 in November, reaching 16.6%, the highest since March 2009 (excluding the 16.7% return in April 2020, the post-Covid month), as reported by brokerage house Arif Habib Limited.

The bullish trend in the market is attributed to a buying frenzy following a staff-level agreement between Pakistani authorities and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the first review under the nine-month $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).

Market experts point to several factors driving this positive momentum, including improvements in the country's financial indicators such as enhanced foreign exchange reserves and an anticipated decline in the policy rate.