KARACHI: Pakistan’s benchmark stock index, PSX, continued its bullish run on Thursday, hitting an all-time high. Investors showed strong confidence as hopes grew for a $1 billion IMF loan tranche.
The KSE-100 index surged 1,330.22 points, reaching a new peak of 119,304.24 during intraday trading. This marked a 1.13% increase. A day earlier, the index gained 972.94 points, closing at 117,974.03.
Trading activity remained high, with 544.2 million shares worth Rs32.31 billion exchanged. A total of 315 companies traded shares. Among them, 208 recorded gains, 102 faced losses, and five remained unchanged.
The market rally followed progress in talks between the IMF and Pakistani authorities. The IMF team, led by Nathan Porter, visited Islamabad and Karachi from February 24 to March 14. They discussed the first review of Pakistan’s economic program under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and a possible new agreement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).
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Porter stated that Pakistan had implemented reforms effectively. Discussions focused on fiscal consolidation to reduce debt, tight monetary policies to control inflation, and energy sector reforms to cut costs. Talks also covered Pakistan’s structural reform agenda, aiming for higher growth, better social protection, and increased spending on health and education.
Progress was also made on climate reforms to reduce risks from natural disasters. These reforms could receive support under the RSF.
