Bulls continued to make further inroads at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), as the benchmark KSE-100 index gained nearly 1.4% during the trading session on Thursday.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 64,578.52, an increase of 875.08 points or 1.37%.

During trading, the KSE-100 hit an intra-day high of 64,801.63.

Buying was witnessed in the energy sector with index-heavy stocks including OGDC, PPL and SNGPL settling in green.

Experts said that the clarity on the political front and positive development on the economic front drove the buying spree.

China rolled over a $2 billion loan to Pakistan, caretaker finance minister Shamshad Akhtar confirmed in a response to Reuters on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the inaugural session of the 16th National Assembly was held today. In the first sitting of the session of the Lower House of the Parliament, the elected members of the National Assembly took oath.

Moreover, strong corporate showing especially among the index heavy energy and banking stocks has also improved market sentiments, said experts.

On Wednesday, positive momentum was witnessed at the bourse as the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained nearly 500 points to settle at 63,703.45.

Globally, Asian equities were mostly weaker on Thursday, while the dollar and US Treasuries were largely steady ahead of crucial US inflation data that could provide fresh clues on when the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates.

Chinese stocks, though, rebounded from Wednesday’s sharp decline to keep them on track for their best month since November 2022.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged 0.06% higher.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee remained largely stable against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At close, the local unit settled at 279.11, a gain of Re0.01, against the greenback, as per the State Bank of Pakistan.

Volume on the all-share index decreased to 424.04 million from 461.39 million a session ago.

The value of shares increased to Rs17.05 billion from Rs16 billion in the previous session.

K-Electric Ltd was the volume leader with 54.95 million shares, followed by Hascol Petrol with 31.86 million shares, and Kohinoor Spinning with 19.82 million shares.

Shares of 364 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 188 registered an increase, 161 recorded a fall, while 15 remained unchanged.