Energy stocks lead rally as KSE-100 gains 486 points

Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened the week in green, with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 485.96 points. The index closed at 40,155.16 points, up 1.23 per cent. It reached an intraday high of 698.23 points, or 1.76pc, around 10:45am. Analysts attributed the stock market’s rise to the government’s steps to reduce circular debt in the gas sector, including the formation of a committee led by the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan Ashfaq Tola to suggest a way forward on debt settlement. “The market opened on a strong note, with the energy sector seeing buying interest. This follows recent news that the government is looking to address the circular debt issue,” Head of Equity at Intermarket Securities Raza Jafri said. “There is also a feeling that the selling is overdone,” he added, referring to the stock market crash last week when the benchmark index lost over 1,900 points in three days. Jafri said the next trigger that could positively affect the market was expected inflows from Saudi Arabia that would boost the country’s foreign exchange reserves, which are at an eight-year low. Meanwhile, Aba Ali Habib Securities’ Salman Naqvi cited media reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has demanded the government come up with a viable plan to reduce circular debt in the energy sector to clear the much-needed ninth and tenth reviews satisfactorily.