Stocks rebound in a jittery week
The stock market witnessed a meltdown at the beginning of the outgoing week amid profit-taking by investors because of a substantial reduction in leveraged positions. Arif Habib Ltd said the bearish momentum proved short-lived as the market rebounded the following day by 1,693 points, marking the third-highest day-on-day increase in its history. Foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) climbed by $853 million to hit $7.8 billion owing to inflows from international creditors. Furthermore, the government disbursed Rs131bn and Rs57bn to state-owned power plants and K-Electric Ltd, respectively. Meanwhile, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank approved $250m for the RISE-II development policy framework in Pakistan. In addition, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed upon a bilateral legal framework for Saudi investment. Moreover, the exchange rate strengthened by 0.24 per cent to clock in at Rs281.86.