After days of negativity, positive momentum marked a return to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) with the benchmark KSE-100 up over 800 points during trading on Wednesday.
During the trading session, the benchmark index hit an intra-day high of 62,432.25, up over 1,205 points.
The momentum simmered down and by 2:30pm, the KSE-100 was hovering at 62,069.79 level, still up by 842.87 points or 1.38%.
The positive momentum comes after it was learnt that Pakistan inched closer to the formation of a new government with various parties announcing their intention to join the other.
Former allies including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and others on Tuesday announced to form a coalition government and also invited Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to enter “reconciliation” process for the sake of the country.
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) is likely to approve an increase in natural gas prices today (Wednesday) to be effective from Feb 2024.
The development bodes well for Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd (SSGCL) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL), the two public sector gas utility companies, said experts.
On Tuesday, PSX staged a dramatic turnaround after plunging over 1,450 points in the opening few minutes of trading after it was learnt that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was not onboard with the government’s circular debt plan.
After falling below the 60,000 level during the opening hours of trading, the benchmark index settled at 61,226.93, an increase of 161.61 points or 0.26%.
Globally, Asian shares tracked a negative lead from Wall Street on Wednesday, while the dollar and Treasury yields jumped as traders pared back expectations for the pace and scale of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year.
The latest shift in rate expectations came after an upside surprise in US inflation on Tuesday which showed the consumer price index (CPI) rising 3.1% on an annual basis, above forecasts for a 2.9% increase.
