Record March surplus fuels rally on PSX

Despite overnight concerns regarding a contraction in Large-Scale Manufacturing and decreasing foreign exchange reserves, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced renewed buying interest from equity investors on Thursday. This boost in confidence was driven by a record current account surplus and a series of positive developments, enhancing the overall economic outlook. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the market showed a sharp recovery amid a $1.2bn record current account surplus in March and a first-ever two-year extension in an oil credit facility from Kuwait, which would ease rupee instability and attract foreign inflows. He added that the rating upgrade from Fitch, surging Asian equities and crude oil prices, record remittances and low inflation were other key factors that contributed to the bullish close at the PSX.