Financial markets upbeat on hopes of IMF loan revival

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani rupee on Monday continued to gain ground against the US dollar and the stock market rallied following news of Saudi Arabia's plans to renew the $3 billion deposit with Pakistan and the hopes of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme's revival.

Pakistan Stock Exchange's benchmark KSE-100 index opened today's trade at 42,857.57 points, while it went up by 764.25 points or 1.78% to close at 43,621.82 points.

Capital market expert Muhammad Saad Ali said rising optimism around the resumption of the IMF programme and appreciation of the rupee have improved market sentiments.

"Note that the market was trading at multi-year low valuations of below 4x forward price-to-earnings prior to the recent run-up," the capital market expert said.

Not only did the stocks rally during the intraday trade, but the Pakistani rupee also continued to strengthen against the US dollar for the tenth successive session.

Rupee gains further ground

The Pakistani rupee closed at Rs213.98 today, appreciating by Rs1.51 from Friday’s close of Rs215.49.

The local unit continued to strengthen against the US dollar for the tenth successive working day, gaining Rs1.51 to close at Rs213.98 in the interbank market today.

On Friday, the Pakistani rupee had gained Rs3.38 to close at Rs215.50 against the US dollar in the interbank market.