725-point rally tosses index to new peak

Trading began on Monday on a positive note with the benchmark index closing just shy of the psychological milestone of 60,000 points. Arif Habib Corporation analyst Ahsan Mehanti said stocks traded at another all-time high amid institutional interest in buying companies across the board. Investors reacted positively to strong economic data on the falling current account deficit and surging foreign remittances. Meanwhile, the imminent disbursement of the loan tranche by the International Monetary Fund and expected deliberations over the Special Investment Facilitation Council initiatives during the prime minister’s visit to the United Arab Emirates played the role of a catalyst in the record surge in the KSE-100 index. According to JS Global Capital Ltd, the rebalancing of MSCI indices along with the expectation of an interest rate cut also helped produce positive momentum on the bourse. As a result, the KSE-100 index closed at 59,811.34 points after gaining 724.99 points or 1.23 per cent from the preceding session.