The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw positive sentiment as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed higher by nearly 400 points on Monday.

The KSE-100 remained in the positive territory for majority of the session, hitting an intra-day high of 46,704.64. However, some profit-taking was also witnessed.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 46,627.08, up by 394.49 points or 0.85%.

Buying was witnessed with index-heavy sectors, including oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, and technology & communication trading in the green.

The improved sentiment comes after the caretaker government on Saturday announced a reduction of Rs8 per litre in the price of petrol and Rs11 per litre in that of high-speed diesel (HSD).

Also, some development regarding likely increase in the gas tariff also contributed in the positive close.

“The equity market was positive today [Monday] on the back of improved liquidity in the market especially in the energy chain as the petroleum division is on the verge of finalising the summary to increase the gas tariff,” brokerage house Ismail Iqbal Securities stated in its post-market report.

Moreover, the Pakistani rupee maintained its upward trend against the US dollar, and was currently hovering at 286 level in the inter-bank market.

During the previous week, PSX remained under pressure as the investors remained cautious and avoided taking fresh positions. The benchmark KSE-100 index declined by 188.56 points on a week-on-week basis and closed at 46,232.59.

However, despite the weekly decline, Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 Index witnessed double-digit growth of 12% in 3Q2023, as sentiments improved on the back of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Stand-By Agreement (SBA) secured in July, stable currency, and announcement of elections, said Topline Securities in a report released last week.

The index was up 11% in USD terms in 3Q2023.

Earlier, the brokerage house predicted that the bourse could potentially come close to the 50,000 level near the general elections, assuming there is a “smooth election process” and the IMF approves the next tranche of the Stand-By Arrangement in November.

“We believe the Pakistan market can potentially experience an 8-10% pre-election rally thereby, has the potential to reach near 50k assuming a smooth election process and the approval of the IMF tranche in November,” said Topline Securities.

Volume on the all-share index increased to 202.6 million from 177.6 million on Thursday.

The value of shares rose to Rs7.404 billion from Rs6.932 billion in the previous session.

WorldCall Telecom remained the volume leader with 44.9 million shares, followed by Cnergyico PK with 17.1 million shares and Oil & Gas Dev. with 17.02 million shares.

Shares of 330 companies were traded on Monday, of which 166 registered an increase, 144 recorded a fall, and 20 remained unchanged.