Share prices rose on Monday with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 452.03 points, or 1.08 per cent, to reach 42,246.69 points at 10:38am.

Intermarket Securities’ Head of Equity Raza Jafri attributed the gains to market expectations that the government would clinch a desperately needed staff-level agreement (SLA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week.

“The reported extension in Saudi Arabia’s deferred oil facility by a year is also being looked upon favourably,” he added.

Aba Ali Habib Securities’ Head of Research Salman Naqvi also shared the view, saying the primary reason for the KSE-100’s rise was the expectation of the SLA being signed soon.

Besides this, there were reports that the international money lender had given the government till June to privatise state-owned corporations and resolve the circular debt in the gas sector, he said. As a result, share prices of state-run companies such as Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL), which are index heavyweights, rose, Naqvi added.

The analyst noted that the earnings season was also going on. “The exploration and production sector performed well; the cement sector saw record quarterly profits and the steel sector also performed well as a result; and the tech sector performed exceptionally.

“These are the main reasons for the bull run,” he said.

Pakistan has seemingly been on the verge of signing the much-anticipated staff-level agreement with the IMF for several weeks now, but this week may see the finance minister “close the deal”, sources in the finance ministry earlier told Dawn.

Last week, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the government would sign the agreement in a few days.

A finance ministry official said the deal couldn’t be signed on the weekend because of delays in compliance with certain measures from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

An agreement would release $1.1 billion, which is part of a $6.5bn bailout package the IMF approved in 2019, which analysts say is critical if Pakistan is to avoid defaulting on external debt obligations.

The SBP’s foreign exchange reserves, after falling below $3bn, have now reached $4.3bn, following inflows of about $1.5bn over the past one and a half weeks.