Stocks surge to six-year peak.

KARACHI -- Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) shot up to nearly 49,500 points with fresh gains of 2,000 points in the outgoing week as it took cue from robust corporate earnings, consistent rupee appreciation and central bank's assertion about easing inflation.

Recent State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad's remarks that the central bank had met the end-September deadline for a forward book target of $4.2 billion agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave a further boost to the market.

The bourse breached the psychological barrier of 49,000 points in the last trading session of the week and hit a six-year peak.

At the beginning of the week, the bourse commenced trading on a positive note, reflecting the previous week's bull-run, which came despite a surge in international crude oil prices due to the Middle East conflict.

The market maintained its uptrend next day as well when the index crossed the 48,000 barrier over stronger rupee and likely privatisation of struggling state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

The bullish trend continued on Wednesday over the IMF's 2.5% growth projection for Pakistan. The Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC)'s initiatives and renewed focus on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects ahead of prime minister's visit to Beijing also lifted the index.

The market marched further north on Thursday as investors expected the government to make some big decisions for the privatisation of SOEs. They also took strength from the unstoppable surge in the rupee's value.

On the last day of trading week, the KSE-100 climbed over 700 points in a remarkable rally that took the market above the psychological barrier of 49,000. The rally was sparked by a robust economic outlook and investor optimism about corporate earnings.

The market closed at 49,493 with a surge of 2,000 points, or 4.2% week-on-week (WoW).

JS Global analyst Muhammad Waqas Ghani, in his market review, wrote that the KSE-100 index rebounded to a six-year high, closing the week at 49,493, up 4.2% WoW. Average daily turnover rose 29%.

'Recovery in key macro indicators was the major reason for the renewed interest. The rupee continued to display a persistent uptrend, concluding the trading week at Rs278/$ in open market compared to Rs300/$ a month ago,' he said.

He attributed the positive performance to SBP's measures to oversee the forex market and enforce regulations...