Strong buying interest was observed throughout most of the trading session. During the day, the benchmark index briefly dipped in the opening hour, dropping to an intra-day low of 181,182.07 before staging a sharp recovery.

It gained steadily through the day and settled near its intraday high of 185,481.45, reflecting sustained investor confidence.

The benchmark index closed at 185,062.11, an increase of 2,653.87 points or 1.45%.

Market analysts attributed the positive momentum to expectations of a policy rate cut in the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.

 “The market anticipates a 50bps cut in the upcoming MPC,” Saad Hanif of Ismail Iqbal Securities, told Business Recorder.

On Monday, the PSX kicked off the New Year on a powerful note as aggressive buying by local institutional investors, particularly mutual funds, triggered a broad-based rally that pushed to fresh historic highs.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index surged by a massive 3,373.31 points, or 1.88%, to close at 182,408.24.