KARACHI (National Times) Bulls dominated the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday as the market achieved a new milestone by crossing the 74,000 mark.

The benchmark KSE-100 index shot up to 74,086.54 points during the intraday trading, up by 1,001.04 points or 1.37% from the previous close of 73,085.50 points.
Raza Jafri, CEO, EFG Hermes Pakistan, speaking to Geo.tv said that there is a growing confidence in the market that the next monetary policy due on June 10 will see an interest rate cut and there is a comfort on the rupee’s outlook as well.

“This is resulting in investor interest in hitherto underperforming sectors such as cement, steel, and pharmaceuticals which are driving the next leg of the rally,” said the analyst.

Meanwhile, Intermarket Securities Director Research Muhammad Saad Ali, CFA, said that the market optimism was driven by a broadly positive International Monetary Fund (IMF) review report released last Friday.

Ali added that the global lender has commended Pakistan’s progress towards achieving greater macro stability.

Last week, stocks rose to a record finish with KSE-100 closing above the 73,000 mark for the first time, as investors cheered robust remittance data and a decline in inflation figures.

The PSX gained 427.45 points or 0.59% to close at 73,085.50 points on Friday.

“Stocks closed at an all-time high in the pre-budget rally at the PSX after robust data on $2.81 billion remittances surged by 28% year-on-year in April,” said analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib.