Positive momentum at bourse, KSE-100 gains nearly 1,500 points

Buying momentum continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 1,500 points during the opening hours of trading on Thursday. At 11:15am, the benchmark index was hovering at 159,662.59, an increase of 1,478.65 points or 0.93%. Across-the-board buying interest was observed in key sectors, including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, ARL, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, DGKC, HBL, MCB, MEBL and UBL, traded in the green. In a key development, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) scheduled a meeting of its executive board on December 8 to approve the disbursement of $1.2 billion to Pakistan. On Wednesday, the PSX staged a modest recovery, rebounding after a sharp downturn in the previous session. The KSE-100 Index gained 313.44 points, or 0.20%, to close at 158,183.95.