PSX surges over 850 points on positive developments

IMF Praises Pakistan’s Progress, Boosts Market Optimism

By DTD- On Mar 19, 2025

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained upward momentum as the benchmark KSE-100 Index recorded a gain of over 850 points during intra-day trading on Wednesday.

By 12:15pm, the KSE-100 Index reached 117,853.70, reflecting an increase of 852.61 points or 0.73%.

Buying activity was noted in several key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, oil marketing companies, power generation, and refineries.

Major stocks such as PRL, NRL, HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, HBL, MEBL, and NBP traded positively.

Market experts linked the upward trend to several favorable developments. Saad Hanif, Head of Research at Ismail Iqbal Securities, indicated that recent progress in addressing circular debt in the energy sector and plans for debt refinancing had positively impacted energy stocks.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) commended Pakistan’s advancements under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, fostering market optimism regarding an upcoming Standby Letter of Arrangement (SLA).

Hanif mentioned that the government’s anticipated announcement to reduce electricity rates on March 23 is also influencing market sentiment.

On the previous day, the KSE-100 Index had settled above the 117,000 mark, reporting an increase of over 800 points.