Bulls charge ahead as KSE-100 rises nearly 900 points in early trade

Bulls continued to gain further traction at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 900 points during the opening minutes of trading on Wednesday. At 9:40am, the benchmark index was hovering at 158,831.61, a gain of 886.59 points or 0.56%. Buying momentum was observed in key sectors including commercial banks, cement, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks traded in the green, including NRL, HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, POL, PPL, PSO, SNGPL, SSGC, HBL, MCB, MEBL, NBP and UBL. The government of Pakistan and a consortium of 18 banks are set to sign a long-awaited Rs1.225 trillion financing facility agreement on Wednesday to address the circular debt crisis in the power sector. On Tuesday, the PSX closed on a positive note in a session marked by volatility due to rollover pressure. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 390.36 points, or 0.25%, to settle at 157,945.03. Globally, stocks in Asia fell on Wednesday, following declines on Wall Street as remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gave little indication about the future path of interest rates and economic data fuelled concerns about slowing growth.