The business week began on a positive note at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), where the benchmark KSE-100 Index recorded an increase of more than 500 points during the early hours of trading.
Investors are expecting the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board to approve a $1 billion payment for Pakistan today (Monday).
In the morning session, the benchmark index rose by 507.29 points, or 0.30%, reaching 167,592.87 points. Strong buying activity was observed in major sectors including cement, commercial banks, fertilizers, oil and gas exploration companies, oil marketing companies (OMCs), and power generation firms. OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, SNGPL, DGKC, HBL, MCB, and MEBL also traded in the positive zone.
The IMF Executive Board is set to meet today to review Pakistan’s second assessment under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) — a 37-month extended arrangement — and the first review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), which is a 28-month arrangement.
Upon approval, Pakistan will gain access to roughly $1 billion (760 million SDRs) under the EFF and around $200 million (154 million SDRs) under the RSF, bringing total disbursements under both arrangements to approximately $3.3 billion.
Last week, the KSE-100 Index closed at 167,085.58 points, marking a marginal increase of 0.2%.
On the global front, Asian stock markets showed mixed trends on Monday as investors awaited a major interest-rate cut decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve later this week.
Japan’s Nikkei Index fell 0.3%, despite a modest 0.5% rise last week. South Korean shares also dropped by 0.3%, after surging 4.4% last week following confirmation of reduced U.S. export tariffs.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific markets outside Japan slipped by 0.1%.
