Activity at the bourse picked up with volume almost doubling on a day-to-day basis as the benchmark KSE-100 closed in the green once again on Wednesday.

While the index traded in a narrow range, volume on the all-share index increased to over 271 million shares. Positivity kicked in the final hour of trading, comfortably pushing the benchmark over 44,000.

At close on Wednesday, the index finished with an increase of 216.37 points or 0.49% to end at 44,260.11.

KSE-100 up 0.3% as activity remains subdued amid mini-budget concerns

On the economic front, the amended Finance and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) autonomy bills were to be presented at the parliament for approval. The approval is crucial for the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

On the corporate front, Air Link Communication Limited announced that the company has joined hands with Digicom Trading (Pvt) Ltd for production and distribution of mobile devices and their accessories in Pakistan.

Sectors painting the benchmark index in the green included refinery (45.35 points), pharmaceutical (31.14 points) and oil and gas marketing (29.31 points).

Volume increased, clocking in at 271.11 million on the all-share index, up from 143.45 million on Tuesday. The value of shares increased significantly to Rs8.16 billion, up from Rs4.99 billion.

Cnergyico PK was the volume leader with 47.42 million shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom with 14.75 million shares, and K-Electric Limited with 13.55 million shares.

Shares of 361 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 199 registered an increase, 141 recorded a fall, and 21 remained unchanged.