Stocks bounce back on foreign buying
Shrugging off overnight gloomy sentiments, the stock market on Monday staged a strong rebound aided by aggressive foreign buying indicating improved investor confidence in the economic direction of the country. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said stocks showed strong recovery as investors weighed World Bank approval of $149.7 million project financing and release of $1.1 billion early next month as an outcome of the Staff-Level Agreement reached last week under the current $3bn Stand-By Arrangement which would also pave the way for inflows from other lenders and friendly countries. He said the $128m current account surplus in February, higher global crude oil prices and the steady rupee also fuelled aggressive buying. Topline Securities Ltd said the oil and exploration sector spearheaded the market gains following reports of the government’s intention to solicit investments from friendly nations for the nation’s largest hydrocarbon explorer. Consequently, Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd attracted a buying interest pushing their scrips prices by 2.90pc and 1.66pc, respectively.