Stocks gain 367 points on Dar’s return, rupee recovery

Bullish momentum continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index started gaining shortly after trading began.
The KSE-100 index gained 366.69 points, or 0.89 per cent, to close at 41,518.23 points.
It saw an intraday high of 438.35 points, or 1.06pc, around 3:30pm.
Salman Naqvi, head of research at Aba Ali Habib Securities, said the primary reason for the index’s rise was Ishaq Dar’s upcoming return as finance minister.
“The effect was seen on the dollar which had been going up and creating problems. It has weakened today,” he pointed out, referring to the PKR recovering by another Rs3.32 against the greenback. “A lot of pending issues are expected to be resolved with Dar’s return such as privatisation and offloading of shares to different countries,” he commented.
Naqvi also attributed the gains to expectations that Pakistan is expected to be removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list in its meeting on October 24. “Relations with the United States have improved which is a welcome development. Donor agencies and friendly countries are helping [deal with the floods]. Crude prices are going down in the international market which will have a positive effect on Pakistan’s economy.” Bullish momentum continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index started gaining shortly after trading began.-Agencies