Daily Times

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) rose for a third day in a row following the government’s announcement to raise fuel prices further in order to appease the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

While trading volume and share price rose, the KSE-100 index gained 291 points on Thursday.

In the course of the day, the KSE-100 Index rose by 325 points to a record high of 41,764.19 intra-day. The index closed at 41,730.16 up 291.37 points, or 0.70pc.

To meet IMF requirements, the government increased petrol and diesel prices and amended tax relief for the salaried class, the positive bourse sentiment was a result of these measures.

Post-budget jitters and the largest US interest rate hike announced since 1994 weighed on the rupee’s interbank market value, bringing it to 207.67 against the US dollar. Following approval from the State Bank of Pakistan, MCB Islamic Bank Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary, announced that it had invested Rs4b in new capital.

Exploration for oil and gas (up 62.71 points) was a major factor in the KSE-100’s rise, as was cement production and distribution (up 57.24 points) (54.94 points). The all-stock index’s volume rose to 162.18m shares on Thursday, up from 141.7m on Wednesday. Compared to the previous session, the value of shares traded increased marginally to Rs4.78b.

Oilboy Energy(R) had 11.4m shares, followed by Maple Leaf with 10.23m, and WorldCall Telecom had 21.55m. Shares of 173 companies rose, 134 fell, and 29 remained unchanged on Thursday, when 336 companies’ shares were traded.