Stocks gain 177 points on bullish rupee

Stocks closed higher on Wednesday as investors welcomed the recovery in the rupee’s value against the dollar likely because of the expected tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Arif Habib Corporation analyst Ahsan Mehanti said there was some midsession pressure on stocks owing to a downgrade by international ratings agency Fitch. In addition, uncertainty over the outcome of the Finance Supplementary Bill 2023 containing new taxes to meet IMF conditions also put stocks under stress. However, strong financial results and the expectation of heavy pay-outs in the oil and gas sector to settle the circular debt played the role of a catalyst in the bullish close. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,326.86 points, up 176.7 points or 0.43 per cent from the preceding session.