The bull run on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) resumed on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 moving closer to 48,000 after gaining over 800 points in early-morning trade.
The index has been on a bullish run since Pakistan’s staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and it has been aided by favorable triggers in the oil and gas sectors, with PSO, OGDC, PPL, SNGP, and banking sector shares leading the increase.
At 10:15 a.m., the KSE-100 was trading at 47,902.97, an increase of 825.98 points or 1.75%.
The index closed at 47,077 on Thursday, a rise of 394.47 points, or 0.85%. The KSE-100 closed above 47,000 for the first time since November 2021.
Leading Pakistani state-owned enterprises are likely to collaborate with Saudi Aramco on a $10 billion greenfield refinery project at Gwadar Port, according to reports last week.
The signing ceremony for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) took place at the main office of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), according to a news release at the time.
This development has been a big impetus for the oil and gas sector surge. Furthermore, the government’s quick move to empower the caretaker setup that will take over as political parties prepare for elections has served as a sign of policy continuity.
“Reports on circular debt resolution and the upcoming refinery policy are positively impacting the index-heavy E&P sector,” Waqas Kukaswadia, Deputy Head of Research at JS Global, told Business Recorder.
“However,” he continued, “we will need to look at today’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announcement, as the market is expecting a 1% hike in the policy rate.”