PSX: Buying at bourse, KSE-100 up over 1,200 points

Buyers stepped in at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday, lifting the benchmark KSE-100 by more than 1,200 points. At 1:20pm the index stood at 170,808.28, a rise of 1,207.88 points or 0.71%, according to Business Recorder. Demand was visible in carmakers, cement, lenders, fertiliser, exploration firms, oil marketing companies and refiners.

Heavyweight stocks such as ARL, HUBCO, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL, HBL, MCB, MEBL and NBP moved into positive territory during the session. The gains followed a late-session slide on Tuesday, when higher global crude prices and Middle East tensions pushed the index down 825.22 points, or 0.48%, to 169,600.41.

On Tuesday the Ministry of Finance unveiled a Strategic Action Plan for the Local Currency Bond Market under an IMF-supported programme pledge aimed at easing market bottlenecks. The plan aims to deepen secondary-market liquidity, widen the investor base, make government borrowing more predictable and reform the legal, tax and market framework covering rupee-denominated securities. Abroad, government bonds came under pressure on Wednesday and were on course for their weakest month in years, amid rising inflation and elevated energy costs. Asian equities nonetheless held firm, with the rise in borrowing costs seen as having a limited impact on stock prices so far.