PSX maintains bullish momentum on economic optimism
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its bullish momentum on Wednesday with the benchmark KSE-100 Index touching another all-time high of 75,000 level, mainly on hopes of easing inflation, rate cuts, and IMF talks. The market opened on a positive note posting over 500 points in the early hours of trade jumping the KSE-100 Index to its highest level of 75,115.32 points at around 10:30 am. At the day close, the benchmark index posted a mere 132.79 points or 0.18% high from the previous close of 74,531.19. Still attractive stock valuations, expectations of more foreign inflows, and starting talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a new loan program added to the bullish sentiment. The market has surged 80% over the past year, and it is up 16.1% year-to-date after an IMF loan program helped the government avert a debt default last summer. On Tuesday, the MSCI index added a Pakistani bank, National Bank of Pakistan, to the MSCI frontier market index. Its shares rose 1.6pc on Wednesday, outperforming the benchmark index. Pakistan last month completed a short-term, $3 billion IMF program, but the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the need for a fresh, longer-term program. An IMF mission is in Pakistan to discuss the financial year 2025 budget, policies, and reforms under a potential new program. Wall Street bank Citi expects Pakistan to reach a four-year agreement with the IMF worth up to $8 billion by end-july and recommends going long on the country’s 2027 international bond.