KARACHI: Karachi stocks hit an all-time high Monday following Nawaz Sharif's strong victory in landmark elections, which revived hopes the steel tycoon's pro-business agenda could spark an economic revival.

The benchmark index of top 100 shares rose 1.6 per cent to 20,232 points in early trade, surpassing the 20,000 mark for the first time, after Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) emerged with a clear lead over its rivals.

The election results defied analysts' predictions of a weak parliament as the PML-N looked able to form a government without the help of its traditional rival the Pakistan Peoples Party and new challenger Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf.

“We were fearing a hung parliament and thus a weaker and unstable government would come into power as a result of the elections,” said Mohammad Sohail, the chief of Topline Securities, a leading brokerage house in Karachi.

Investors are hopeful of an economic revival under Sharif, whose pro-business policies earned him a good reputation among traders and industrialists during his two previous tenures in the 1990s.

“He liberalised the economy by launching a privatisation programme and liberalised the financial sector allowing foreign investors to step into Pakistani capital markets,” Sohail said.

Though his privatisation agenda was never fully implemented, Sharif has promised in early interviews to pick up where he left off.

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

Trump 2.0
Updated 21 Jan, 2025

Trump 2.0

Few have forgotten how disruptive Trump could be as president. There has been little indication that his 2nd term will be any different.
GB’s status
21 Jan, 2025

GB’s status

THE demand raised by the people of Gilgit-Baltistan for constitutional clarity and provisional provincial status is...
Panda bond
Updated 21 Jan, 2025

Panda bond

ISLAMABAD’S plans to raise $200m from China’s capital markets through the inaugural issue of a Panda bond this...
At breaking point
Updated 20 Jan, 2025

At breaking point

The country’s jails serve as monuments to bureaucratic paralysis rather than justice.
Lower growth
20 Jan, 2025

Lower growth

THE IMF has slightly marked down its previous growth forecast for Pakistan’s economy from 3.2pc to 3pc for the...
Nutrition challenge
20 Jan, 2025

Nutrition challenge

WHEN a country’s children go hungry, its future withers. In Pakistan, where over 40pc of children under five are...