PSX: Buying at bourse, KSE-100 up over 1,600 points

Business Recorder reported that buying interest emerged at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday, with the KSE-100 adding more than 800 points in early trade. By 10:10am the index stood at 171,244.99, a rise of 1,644.59 points or 0.97 per cent. The index had closed at 169,600.41 on Tuesday after a late-session sell-off.

Buying spread across car assemblers, cement, banks, fertiliser, oil and gas exploration firms, oil marketing companies and refineries. Index heavyweights HUBCO, MARI and OGDC, along with HBL, MCB, MEBL, NBP, PPL and POL, also moved into positive territory.

Separately, the Ministry of Finance unveiled a strategic action plan for the local currency bond market on Tuesday under an IMF-supported programme, aiming for deeper secondary-market liquidity and a wider investor base. Internationally, global bonds were heading for their weakest month in several years as weaker public finances, heavy issuance and rising inflation pushed yields higher. Shares in Asia nonetheless fared better and were largely unaffected by the rise in yields.