The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained the winning spell for a fourth consecutive session on Thursday, with the KSE-100 index rising 1.32% owing to strengthening of rupee against dollar.

During the session, the local currency rose to its highest level in nearly a month (since September 8, 2022) which encouraged equity market participants to pour money and assume fresh positions.

As a result, the KSE-100 Index rose 549.15 points or 1.32 % to close at 42,160.57.

KSE-100 climbs 0.63% aided by 16-month high volumes

The trading session kicked off with a spike and the market climbed at a steady pace throughout the day. The rising trend accelerated in the final hours and enhanced the gains.

Index-heavy automobile, chemical, banks and oil sectors saw renewed buying interest and closed in the green.

A report from Capital Stake noted that "indices accumulated gains all day long, with the benchmark KSE 100 crossing 42,000 mark".

“Appreciation of Pakistani rupee as well as speculation that monetary policy will remain unchanged helped boost investors’ confidence.”

As per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the rupee gained Rs2 or 0.89% against the US dollar on day-on-day basis, closing at Rs221.94 on Thursday.

Sectors driving the benchmark KSE-100 Index north higher included technology and communication (166.80 points), fertiliser (109.93 points) and oil and gas exploration (84.28 points).

Volume on the all-share index retreated to 442.6 million from 635.6 million on Wednesday. On the other hand, the value of shares traded rose to Rs13.7 billion from Rs10.5 billion recorded in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 116.9 million shares, followed by TPL Properties with 29.8 million shares and TRG Pakistan with 23.6 million shares

Shares of 373 companies were traded on Thursday, of which 206 registered an increase, 136 recorded a fall, and 31 remained unchanged.