Stocks rally on robust payouts, falling NSS rates

Despite mounting political tensions and economic uncertainty, including growing risks to the digital economy due to internet disruptions, the stock market on Thursday showed remarkable resilience as equity investors remained busy in cherry-picking amid a strong earnings outlook, tossing the index above 78,000. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said stocks showed recovery on high corporate payouts, bullish global equities, drop in profit rates on national savings schemes, and likely IMF board ap­proval for the 37-month $7bn Extended Fund Fa­cility this month fuelled bull run on the stock market. Topline Securities said the fertiliser, exploration and production, information technology, and banking sectors saw significant contributions from Fauji Fertiliser, Pakistan Oilfield, MCB Bank, Systems Ltd and Meezan Bank, which cumulatively contributed 253 points to the index’s performance.