From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) reaches historic milestone as the benchmark index crossed the 70,000 mark on Tuesday on factors including hopes of a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal.
The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 694.73 points or 1% during the intraday trading to reach 70,314.71 points, up from the previous close of 69,619.98 points.
Saudi Arabia pledged to accelerate the first instalment of a $5 billion investment in Pakistan, with Islamabad vowing to streamline the process to bolster economic cooperation between the two nations. This commitment was made during a meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Makkah on Sunday night.
The prime minister was on a three-day visit to seek economic assistance from the kingdom.
Mohammed Sohail, CEO of Topline Securities, in a post-market note, said the stock market crossed the 70,000 mark amid positive news on Saudi investment and deposits. “Continuous foreign buying [is] also helping equities. KSE-100 is now up almost 70% from June end,” he added.
Samiullah Tariq, head of research at Pak-Kuwait Investment Company, told media that the market is hopeful of a new IMF deal.
He also attributed the gain to high remittances and expectations of good company results to be an-nounced for the March end quarter.
JS Research in a note said bulls maintained their control over the session, with the KSE-100 index con-cluding at 69,620, marking an increase of 1,203 points. Trading volume, however, decreased to 336 mil-lion shares from the previous session’s 389 million shares.
“Should the upward momentum persist, the anticipated target could reach 70,201, potentially extend-ing further to the 71,262 level,” the brokerage said.
The JS report said that any downward movement was expected to find support within the range of 68,980 to 69,350 levels; a breach below this range might signal the beginning of a corrective trend.
The rupee maintained its stability against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. By close of trading, the local currency settled at 277.94, marking a marginal gain of Re0.01 against the green-back, as reported by the State Bank of Pakistan.
Remittances sent home by overseas workers have surged 31.27% month-on-month to $2.95 billion in March, compared to $2.25 billion in the previous month, the latest data issued by State Bank of Paki-stan (SBP) revealed on Monday.
This significant increase in the remittances can largely be attributed to Ramadan inflows, which tradi-tionally witnesses a surge because expats send extra money home for the Eid expenses.
Arif Habib Limited (AHL) in a note said remittances increased by 16% year-on-year to $3 billion — high-est monthly inflows after April 2022 — during March 2024 compared to $2.5 billion in March 2023.
