Stocks rally as hopes rise for IMF tranche
Share prices rose on Tuesday as investors remained hopeful for the release of the delayed loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Arif Habib Ltd said investors’ activity increased marginally while the trading volume rose across the board slightly, with third-tier companies topping the volume board. Analyst Ahsan Mehanti said stocks closed higher as the earnings season rally gathered pace on the stock market. In addition, the rupee’s recovery amid the affirmation on bilateral support from friendly countries for the IMF bailout. Strong financial results in the cement sector also played the role of a catalyst in the bullish close, he added. As a result, the KSE-100 index settled at 40,448.05 points, up 201.38 points or 0.5 per cent from the preceding session. The overall trading volume decreased 28.7pc to 67.5 million shares. The traded value went down 25.3pc to $8m on a day-on-day basis. Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included K-Electric Ltd (3.5m shares), WorldCall Telecom Ltd (3.3m shares), Hascol Petroleum Ltd (2.7m shares), Agha Steel Industries Ltd (2.7m shares) and Data Textiles Ltd (2.6m shares).