Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday recorded modest recovery amid hopes for cut in interest rate and improving global credit rating.
At the end of the trading session KSE-100 index jumped 514 points and settled at 139207 compared to the previous close. The highest level of trading was 139436 and the lowest was 138808. The rebound comes after a bearish session on Thursday, when the benchmark index lost 561.69 points, marking a 0.40% decline. The index had closed at 138,692.67 points the previous day, down from 139,254.36 points in the prior session.
The investors were closely monitoring macroeconomic developments and policy signals as uncertainty continues to weigh on sentiment. Ratings agency S&P Global raised Pakistan’s sovereign credit rating to ‘B-’ from ‘CCC+’ and placed it on a ‘stable’ outlook on Thursday, saying the country’s finances and reserves had been stabilised by International Monetary Fund (IMF) support.
The stable outlook reflects our expectations that continued economic recovery and government efforts to enhance revenue will stabilise fiscal and debt metrics, S&P said in a statement on the move.
Moreover, financial market is also expecting Pakistan’s central bank to cut its key interest rate by 50 to 100 basis points at its upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on July 30.