PSX surges by 952 points to cross 34,000 points level

KARACHI: The stock market rallied for the third consecutive day on Thursday as the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) surged over 950 points over rising investor confidence.

The benchmark KSE 100 index gained 952.80 points, a healthy rise of 2.87 percent, and closed at 34,111.64 points. The indices surged by 334.25 points as trading resumed and rallied throughout the day to cross the 34,000 points level. The total volume of shares increased to 235.682 million valued at Rs11.144 billion.

Meanwhile, the KSE 30 index also surged by 505.22 points (3.47%) to closed at 15,081.82 points. The total volume of share at the lower bench increased to 134.676 million. This lead to an increase in share prices of the top active stocks including HASCOL (3.76%), PAEL (6.64%), MLCF (3.26%), PPL (7.47%), UNITY (2.67%), EFERT (0.98%), KEL (2.73%), BOP (6.42%), OGDC (7.50%) and PIOC (5.44%).

Investor confidence was restored amid the anticipated slash in petroleum prices. OGRA has recommended a decline in petro pricel by Rs20.68/ litre (21.4%) and diesel by Rs33.94 per litre (31.6%). The summary is expected to be approved for the new prices for the month of May.

There is also an expected decline in inflation prices for the month of May as the consumer price index is expected to fall. Investors expected that the interest rate could reduce further and flocked to the stock market. The stock market was triggered by the news by Finance Adviser Hafeez Shaikh that the current budget to be announced in the first week of June will aim to mitigate suffering due to the coronavirus pandemic.