Pakistan benchmark share index rose as much as 0.9% during early morning trading on Thursday to cross 49,000 points for the first time since June 2017.

“KSE-100 index went up by 374 points (49,139 pts, +0.77%, on intraday basis) DoD ; the 49k level crossed after ~ six years (last seen on June 09, 2017),” said Arif Habib Limited tweeted.

The KSE-100 Index gained 463.76 points to reach 49,228.31 points on Thursday amid improved sentiments. However, it fell back to 48,611 by the day’s close.

The Arif Habib Limited attributed the historic gain to Pakistan’s last-minute deal with the IMF. The market gained 7,686 points (+18.5%) since the staff-level agreement with the IMF for SBA, it added.

“KSE100 Index trading above 49,000 for the first time since June 2017!” the Capital Stake reported.

Another milestone has been achieved, Pakistan Stock Exchange analyst Mohammed Sohail said.

He went on to add that the Pakistan benchmark stock market index rose as much as 20%, in just five weeks.

In June, the IMF reached a staff-level pact with Pakistan on a $3-billion stand-by agreement for nine months.

Islamabad was racing against time to unlock at least $1.1 billion under the lender’s ninth review of a $6.5-billion Extended Fund Facility agreed upon in 2019 when the deal was signed.

This is an initial update and the story will be updated till the market closes.