Late profit-selling drags PSX down from above 81,000 points

KARACHI: Stocks shot up on Tuesday to cross the 81,000-point mark driven by local and foreign buying amid institutional support, but a late profit-selling spree cut short the stellar rally, traders said.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 483.98 points or 0.6% to touch 81,050.18 points during the intraday trade at 11:40am but eventually settled at 80,672.06 points with a lacklustre gain of 106 points or 0.13%.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp, while speaking to Geo.tv, said that the stocks reached an all-time high as the investors weighed deliberation on the privatisation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) after the assurance given by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to hold Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) bidding process in August.

Mehanti also attributed the gain to the recovery of the rupee against the dollar as well as investors' hopes for a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal. 

"Easy SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) policy rates played a catalyst role in bullish activity at PSX," he said. 

Alpha Beta Core CEO and economic analyst Khurram Schehzad said that the "soon-to-begin IMF talks for the new larger and longer programme have given investors confidence in economic reforms and more stability in the economy."

"As a result, the market stands inexpensive on multiples so investors continue to take exposures," he added. 

A day earlier, stocks recorded an increase of 353.41 points or 0.44% to close at 80,566.21 points.