The benchmark KSE-100 index rose roughly 2.18pc on Wednesday, propelled higher by a rising rupee and positive developments at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The stock market was also helped by a smaller trade deficit as imports decreased. A rise of 877.26 points or 2.18pc brought the benchmark KSE-100 Index to final closing of 41,068.87. The local currency rose to Rs228.8 from Rs9.58 at the start of the day, a gain of 4.19pc. On a monthly basis, imports fell by 38.31pc, reaching $4.861b in July 2022, down from $7.88b in June 2022. This resulted in a 46.76pc reduction in the trade deficit to $2.6b for the month. Both of these events, together with the IMF’s comments from earlier in the day, contributed to boost investor confidence and allowing the KSE-100 to continue its upward trend. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on Tuesday that Pakistan has completed the final previous action for the combined seventh and eighth review and that the board meeting is tentatively scheduled for late August once enough financial assurances are secured. The KSE-100 index had a strong start to trading and continued to rise throughout the day. After midday, the climb became steeper and boosted the gain. Industries with a large weighting in the index such as transportation and petrochemicals finished in black. IMF payouts are scheduled to arrive in Pakistan in the first week of September and across-the-board buying is taking place, a financial analyst has observed. Both the IMF’s past actions and the market’s relief are a result of the government’s decision to raise the PDL. Tensions between China and the United States are expected to continue to rise. A report from Topline Securities noted that local equities applauded the IMF’s admission that all conditions necessary to resume the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme had been met. Pakistan’s inter-bank market saw a remarkable 4.19pc strengthening of the rupee against the US dollar. Banks (201.16 points), cement (174.18 points), and oil and gas exploration all contributed to the benchmark KSE-100 index’s rise (92.14 points). The all-share index’s volume increased from Tuesday’s 217.5m shares to Wednesday’s 333.03m shares. From Rs6.33b to Rs10.02b worth of shares were traded in the previous session. TPL Properties had 29.2m shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom (32.5m), and Unity Foods had 22.9m shares, respectively. On Wednesday, 327 shares of 327 companies were traded, of which 258 rose, 68 fell, and 22 stayed the same. Agencies