KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) surged on Wednesday after reports that talks between the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were heading in the right direction.
The benchmark KSE-100 index soared by 870.01 (1.95%) and closed at 45,499.46 points. The bourse remained in the green throughout the session and had gained 802.72 points by mid-day. The total volume of shares was 132.668 million valued at Rs7.827 bn.
The lower-bench KSE-30 index increased by 368.99 points (2.11%) and closed at 17,824.53 points. The total volume of shares was 62.220 million. The KMI-30 index surged by 1,583.09 points (2.20%) and closed at 73,434.01 points, while All-Share Index nudged by 429.78 points (1.40%) and closed at 31,103.89 points.
The most active stock was WorldCall Telecom Ltd (WTL 10.96%) which saw 49.452 million shares traded at the stock market. This was followed by Hum News Ltd (HUMNL 5.86%), Byco Petroleum (BYCO 3.29%) and Telecard Ltd (TELE 7.45%). The total volume of scripts was 24.770 million, 15.608 million, and 15.593 million respectively.
The stock market remained under pressure for the past two days amid reports that Pakistan had failed to strike a staff-level agreement with the IMF. Those fears appeased on Wednesday after Adviser on Finance and Revenue returned to Washington to resume discussions with the IMF.
IMF Middle East and Central Asia Department Director Jihad Azour told reporters in Washington that the talks with Pakistan government on the sixth review of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) had progressed to a “very good step”.
The news buoyed sentiments at the stock market and increased political sentiments. The United States also nominated a new ambassador for Pakistan and there were expectations that the political issues will be amicable resolved.
