Lahore - Pakistan’s investors cheered general elections results on the first day after poll, where market rejoiced possibility of simple majority (or strong coalition) with momentum of 750pts or 1.8%, closing at 42,089 index level. Election results boosted investors’ confidence for next tenure of democratic government, where earlier people were expecting weak coalition government.

Banking sector remained in limelight as investors further expect around 100bps rise in policy rate by Dec 2018, that would lead to higher spread for banks. As a result, top four banks contributed 143 points to overall gain in index. Similarly, Fertilizer and Cement sector contributed 117 and 120 points respectively with former due to better industry outlook and latter due to its attractive valuation. Market participation rises in terms of volume and value by 33% and 19% respectively.

Experts said that post-poll crises looms large over the country as PML-N, PPP, MQM-P and ANP among others have voiced grave concerns over what they termed ‘systematic manipulation in compilation and announcement of results’ by the polling staff.

They said that Asian stocks made modest gains Wednesday, after a batch of generally solid US earnings and news of China’s stimulus plans helped drive markets up. Beijing on Tuesday signalled that it would shift to a looser fiscal policy in a bid to protect the world’s second largest economy from the impact of an escalating trade row with Washington.