100 Index Bullish in early trade

Pakistan’s benchmark, KSE-100 Index opened the session up by more than 298 points in early trade.

The index is currently trading at 42,017.64 level.

The business community have demanded of the government to extend the Tax Amnesty Scheme for one month to ensure that maximum numbers of people especially those belonging to business community benefit from the scheme. In this regard a trade delegation headed by president "Markazi Anjuman Tajiran", Ajmal Baloch met with Commissioner Income Tax, Abdul Hameed here to present its demand for extension of the deadline. In April, 2018, the government had announced the tax amnesty scheme to provide the individuals opportunities to register their undeclared foreign as well as local assets through paying two to five percent penalty, and last date of the scheme is June 30, 2018.

Moreover, China wants to expand and promote Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Pakistan, Chinese Deputy Head of Mission Lijian Zhao said on Wednesday. Addressing at the Regional Conference on 'Connectivity and Geo-Economics in South Asia' here, Lijian Zhao said China was interested in exploring more trade opportunities with Pakistan. The Chinese diplomat expressed confidence that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would result into regional connectivity for the benefit of not only Pakistan and China but all neighboring states. However, he stressed the need for further improvement in matters related to the CPEC for its effective implementation.

Currently oil benchmark WTI is trading at $72.55 per barrel down 0.3 percent whereas BRENT remained constant to $77.63 per barrel. The reason for the downward trend in oil is the increment of supplies of USA.

The scripts that are at the bottom today in the first half of the current session include Indus Motors (INDU), Mari Petroleum (MARI) and Lucky Cement (LUCK).