Stocks rise after Dar rejects debt restructuring

The KSE-100 index traded in the positive zone on Monday, thanks to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s statement that Pakistan won’t seek debt restructuring from the Paris Club and fulfil all multilateral, international and bond payments, said Topline Securities. Another reason for the index to open in the green and stay positive for the most part of the trading session was the analysts’ expectation of a rate cut in the monetary policy that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced later in the day, according to Arif Habib Ltd. Insight Securities quoted the SBP governor as saying that the central bank hadn’t intervened in the foreign exchange market to support the rupee and that the recent appreciation in the local currency against the dollar was largely due to the improvement in overall sentiments. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 42,211.64 points, up 126.39 points or 0.3 per cent from the preceding session.