PSX posts long-awaited recovery; shoots past 78,000 mark

KARACHI: Yesterday (Wednesday), the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) finally managed to turn around the losing streak and posted recovery of over 500 points by closing time.

The benchmark KSE-100 closed at 78,260.85 points yesterday, with the growth primarily driven by the earnings outlook as well as recovering rupee. The bourse took a slow start and touched the day’s lowest at 77,968.74 points before recovering.

Delay in IMF’s approval puts downward pressure on stocks

Despite the recovery, the KSE-100 index continued to fluctuate, indicating lower investor confidence. Where on one hand the rupee’s recovery, and lower policy rate by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is helping the index, the increase in global oil prices and IMF’s delay in approving a loan for Pakistan is putting downward pressure on the market.

The market surged past the 78,000 mark, touching the day’s highest at 78,457.37 points but then lost some of these gains by closing time, still closing above opening level.