Wednesday, July 08 2020

KSE-100 index adds 171 points on local buying
KARACHI: The massive rally at the stock market that started on June 26 following the surprise State Bank policy rate cut by 100 basis points entered eighth consecutive trading day on Tuesday. The bulls remained in charge for the entire session with the KSE-100 index recording gains of 170.58 points (0.48 per cent) and settling at 35,373.35. Over the last eight days, the market has amassed 1,434 points or 4.2pc. Except for foreigners who carried on their selling of shares worth $3.09 million, all local participants sans banks continued to add to the index splurge. Buoyant international markets and declining trend line in active cases of Covid-19 in the country provided confidence to investors who resumed buying right from the opening bell, taking the benchmark up to intraday high by 269 points.
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Agreement for $1.5bn hydropower project signed
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be a ‘game changer’ for the motherland, bringing unprecedented prosperity and progress to the country. “It (CPEC) is a project that will take Pakistan to new heights [of prosperity],” the prime minister said after witnessing the signing of agreement with China Gezhouba for Azad Pattan hydropower project at a ceremony held at PM Office on Monday. “Pakistan can learn with the progress made by emerging economic power, China, during the last 30 years,” Mr Khan said. He said he was glad that the hydropower project was being commissioned under the CPEC. “Earlier, the CPEC was confined to road connectivity, but now other aspects of the corridor are being unfolded,” he added.
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Foreign investors see improvement in security
ISLAMABAD: Foreign investors are excited over Pakistan’s fast improving security situation, saying the two main business centres — Karachi and Lahore — are now on a par with other mega cities in the region. In a survey — Annual Security Survey 2020 — released on Monday, the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) said the foreign investors have shown overall high level of satisfaction on the fast improving security environment in the country. The survey was conducted by the OICCI that claims to be the largest chamber in terms of economic contribution and representing top 200 foreign investors in Pakistan. The survey, it said, was based on feedback on the security environment from July 2019 to June 2020.
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Gold scales new peak
KARACHI: The All Sindh Sarafa and Jewellers Association (ASSJA) on Tuesday increased per tola and 10-gram gold prices to Rs105,900 and Rs90,792, up by Rs1,000 and Rs857 respectively. However, the price of gold in the international market remained unchanged. Explaining the rationale behind the increase in prices, ASSJA President Haji Haroon Rasheed Chand said that investor interest had increased in yellow metal, raising the demand for the commodity. Meanwhile, the losing value of rupee against the dollar is also putting pressure on local prices.
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World equities, oil slip, but China rumbles on
NEW YORK: Investor caution over renewed coronavirus lockdowns snuffed out a five-day rally in most world equity markets on Tuesday and weighed on oil prices, though it was not enough to halt a hot streak in Chinese stocks. The dollar edged higher as risk currencies such as the Australian dollar took a breather from recent gains and gold dipped as investors booked profits after bullion rallied to a near eight-year peak, trading around $1,780 an ounce. US Treasury yields ticked lower as a rising Covid-19 caseload raised concerns about economic reopening plans. The greater Miami area in Florida became the latest US coronavirus hot spot to roll back its reopening. Cases surged nationwide by the tens of thousands and the US death toll topped 130,000.
Related news categories: business misc stock-exchanges