Stocks rally as govt hopes for swift IMF deal

Share prices extended their overnight momentum on Thursday, thanks to rising expectations about the signing of a staff-level agreement between the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the revival of a $7 billion loan programme. Arif Habib Ltd said the benchmark of representative shares traded in the positive zone throughout the session as investors remained optimistic about the disbursement of the long-delayed ninth tranche of the IMF loan. Investors participated actively all day with the cement sector hogging the spotlight amid healthy across-the-board volumes. News reports about foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan increasing to $4.3 billion also helped investors gain confidence. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 41,585.54 points, up 226.61 points or 0.55 per cent from the preceding session. The overall trading volume increased 40.6pc to 229.1 million shares. The traded value went up 16pc to $26.3m on a day-on-day basis. Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Telecom Ltd (26.6m shares), Telecard Ltd (17m shares), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd (12.4m shares), Silkbank Ltd (11.2m shares) and Hascol Petroleum Ltd (10.8m shares).