KARACHI: Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) gained 233 points at the end of trading on second business day on Tuesday. Stocks tumbled over 450 points at start of the trading due to the prevailing political crisis as opposition parties have called for Azadi and Inqilab marches against the government on August 14 but shares started recovering with passage of time and closed the day higher at 28304.50 points.
Today’s development comes a day after the stock market suffered its largest ever one-day drop in share prices with the KSE-100 index witnessing a free fall of 1,309.09 points, or 4.46 per cent.
The development comes as Islamabad braces for protest marches led by Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri who have vowed to topple the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Both the leaders plan to march on Islamabad on August 14 accompanied by tens of thousands of supporters and have claimed that last year’s general election was rigged.
Both protest rallies will be held on Thursday when Pakistan celebrates its independence day.
Pakistan’s economic outlook has generally improved since the government of business-friendly Sharif came to power.
Foreign exchange reserves have doubled from $7 billion to $14 billion following successful negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for debt servicing assistance, the sale of bonds, as well as auctions for 3G and 4G licences.
In July, ratings agency Moody’s upgraded Pakistan’s country outlook to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’ citing its improving external liquidity position and commitment to reforms.
