Business

KSE-100 index gains over 250 points on positive cues

Published

3 years ago

Farwa

Massive recovery of rupee against US dollar triggered bullish sentiment among market players.
Trading session kicked off in green and until midday, KSE-100 continued to fluctuate in a narrow range.
At close, KSE-100 index closed at 42,716.97 points after gaining 0.61%.

KARACHI: The bears took a break from the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday as it surged into the green territory, with investors taking cues from the agreement between Pakistan and Chinese banks for inflows worth $2.3 billion.

Massive recovery of the rupee against the US dollar by 2.7% day-on-day in the interbank market triggered bullish sentiment among market players.

Moreover, constant assurance from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Miftah Ismail regarding the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme sparked optimism among market participants, who resorted to making fresh purchases.

Earlier, the trading session kicked off in the green and until midday, the benchmark KSE-100 index continued to fluctuate in a narrow range.

At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 42,716.97 points after gaining 258.83 points or 0.61%.

Benchmark KSE-100 indec intra-day trading curve. — PSX data portal

Arif Habib Limited in its post-market commentary noted that the benchmark KSE-100 index was dominated by the bulls today.

“Across the board rally was witnessed as Chinese consortium of banks signed an RMB 15 billion ($2.3 billion) loan facility agreement which resulted in the recovery of Pakistani rupee against the US dollar,” it stated.

Meanwhile, volumes also remained healthy across the board. The independent power producers (IPP) sector remained in limelight as the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet approved Rs149 billion for the power sector to be paid to the IPPs and K-Electric in the current fiscal year.

Sectors contributing to the performance included power (+74.8 points), banks (+52.2 points), technology (+26.4 points), oil marketing companies (+25.9 points) and cement (+15 points).

Shares of 347 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 235 scrips closed in the green, 87 in the red, and 25 remained unchanged.

Overall trading volumes rose to 349.48 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 266.09 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs10.13 billion.

Cnergyico PK Limited was the volume leader with 37.4 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.22 to close at Rs5.78. It was followed by Pakistan Refinery with 29.34 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.56 to close at Rs19.54 and K-Electric with 27.96 million shares traded, gaining Rs0.19 to close at Rs2.85.

Business

SFD and Pakistan Sign Two Deals Totaling $1.61BLN

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

Two agreements totaling $1.61 billion have been inked by Pakistan and the Saudi Fund for Development to improve their bilateral economic cooperation.

Business

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign an MOU to strengthen their auditing industry collaboration.

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

A spokesperson for the office of the Auditor-General of Pakistan (AGP) announced on Monday that the two countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in public sector auditing through improved cooperation between audit institutions of both countries, as well as training programs and the exchange of trainers.

This comes as a group from Saudi Arabia’s General Court of Audit (GCA), headed by GCA President Dr. Hussam bin Abdulmohsen Alangari, arrived in Pakistan on Sunday for a four-day visit.

The agreement was signed during AGP Muhammad Ajmal Gondal’s meeting with the Saudi delegates, aiming to strengthen audit cooperation, enhance knowledge-sharing, and improve governance, transparency and accountability in government spending.

Public relations officer Muhammad Raza Irfan of the AGP’s office told Arab News that the deal will further advance bilateral collaboration between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in addition to enhancing professional ties between the two nations’ auditing institutions.

In a statement released from his office, AGP Gondal was cited as saying, “This collaboration marks a significant step toward fostering international cooperation in auditing.”

“The exchange of ideas and methodologies will undoubtedly strengthen our capacity to meet emerging challenges and set new benchmarks for public accountability.”

Discussions at Monday’s meeting focused on fostering closer ties between the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, sharing innovative audit methodologies, and planning collaborative initiatives for the future, according to the AGP office.

The two parties decided to increase their knowledge of theme, environmental, and impact audits as well as to exchange best practices in audit standards, performance audits, and citizen participation audits.

The statement added, “It also agreed to exchange trainers, address new auditing challenges, plan cooperative audits, including a performance audit on the oil and gas sector in 2025, and work together on training programs.”

Both sides reaffirmed their shared commitment to promoting transparency, accountability and excellence in public sector auditing.

Business

The government chooses to continue the PIA privatization process.

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) privatization process will be restarted by the federal government, and expressions of interest would be requested within the month. Officials stated that the Prime Minister’s Committee on Privatization will convene to make the final decision.

Usman Bajwa, the secretary of the Privatization Commission, gave a briefing on the updated procedure to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Privatization. Additionally, he disclosed that airlines other than PIA are now able to compete with regional carriers thanks to IMF-approved aircraft tax concessions.

Farooq Sattar, the chairman of the privatization committee, underlined the importance of giving PIA workers at least five years of job security. Employee protection will continue to be a top priority and will be resolved prior to bidding, the Privatization Commission promised.

PIA’s liabilities totaling Rs650 billion have already been assumed by the government, and an additional Rs45 billion in outstanding debts must be paid before the privatization process can begin. As of the now, PIA has assets around Rs155 billion and liabilities worth Rs200 billion. It will be necessary for the new buyer to expand the fleet by 15 to 20 aircraft.

Additionally, the Privatization Committee has sought a timeline for the privatization of Faisalabad, Gujranwala, and Islamabad Electric Supply Companies. Officials stated that after the appointment of a financial advisor, the privatization process for these companies will accelerate.