Pakistani stocks continue bullish run after Saudi assistance deal

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange continued its bullish trajectory on Thursday, propelled by renewed investor confidence after Saudi Arabia pledged to provide Islamabad with $6 billion in financial assistance.

The benchmark KSE-100 index closed up 360 points at 39,631, with the day's high being 67,040 points. 

Market capitalisation increased by 33bn to reach 8,009bn, while 340 million shares worth 13bn were transacted.

Earlier in the day, it gained another 763 points to push the index above 40,000 points. It was trading at around 40,040 points as of 11am.

The last instance when the PSX was trading above 40,000 points was on October 4, 2018, before Pakistan formally approached the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package.

On Wednesday, the KSE-100 index gained 1,556 points or 4.13 percent to push the index to 39,271 points at the close of trading. This was only the second time in history that the index rose by more than 1,550 points in a single day. The last time the market witnessed such gains was on June 5, 2017, when the benchmark index recorded a rise of 1,566 points at closing.

The gains followed a string of losses on the bourse after mixed signals from Prime Minister Imran Khan's government on plans to address the country's deteriorating finances.

On Tuesday, the government struck a 12-month deal for a balance of payments lifeline during a visit to Saudi Arabia, which will deposit $3 billion with Pakistan's central bank and provide a matching one-year deferred payment facility for oil imports.

The relief package will likely lessen the amount of funds the country will need to secure from the IMF, analysts said.