The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened the first session of the week on a positive note as the benchmark KSE-100 inched 0.29% higher to settle over the 46,000 level on Monday.
This is the first time the benchmark index has closed over 46,000 since April 2022 as earlier it had failed to sustain the level.
During the trading session, the benchmark index remained range-bound, swinging between 46,195.7 and 45,872.67.
At close, the KSE-100 settled at 46,054.81 after an increase of 134.08 points or 0.29%.
The banking sector remained in the limelight as financial results start to pour in with other sectors under pressure due to higher cost of doing business moving forward in light of the hike in electricity tariff.
However, the market by and large has seen bullish momentum with investors staying confident amid the new programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) worth $3 billion.
“The market has gained 4,602 points (+11.1%) since the staff level agreement with the IMF for SBA,” said Arif Habib Limited in a post-market note.
Sectors lifting the benchmark index higher included, banking (113.31 points), power generation and distribution (28.46 points) and oil and gas marketing (25.56 points).
On the economic front, the Pakistani rupee sustained losses for the seventh successive session against the US dollar, as it depreciated 0.39% to settle at 287.92 on Monday.
Volume on the all-share index decreased significantly to 299 million from 504.5 million on Friday. The value of shares traded decreased to Rs8.14 billion from Rs12.01 billion in the previous session.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 35.8 million shares followed by K-Electric Limited with 32.4 million shares and Unity Foods Limited with 31.5 million shares.
Shares of 337 companies were traded on Monday, of which 147 registered an increase, 175 recorded a fall and 15 remained unchanged.