The stock market continued to gain on Wednesday posting a second positive close. The KSE100 index closed 514 points in the green to reach 40,378.

The index took off to a robust start and technical support at 40,000 could be witnessed during trading for the rest of the session. After range bound trading for most of the trading session, an upward rally was witnessed near the end to allow the index to close over 500 points in the positive. Volume at the exchange also displayed a healthy increase.

Gains at the exchange were seen to be inline with larger global sentiment as financial markets across the globe continue to flourish on vaccine news. Furthermore, stability in oil prices allowed index heavy weight scrips in the oil and exploration sector to perform well. This provided additional support to the KSE100 index.

Equity markets across the globe continued their upward momentum as the smooth handover of power in the U.S. and positive news on the COVID-19 market provided stability. Markets across the globe reached record highs with the Nikkei in Japan rising to a 29-year high.

At closing bell 202 companies had advanced with 133 scrips declining. 17 symbols remained unchanged.

Market participation for the KSE100 Index increased to 143M from 106M in the previous session (35% on d/d basis). Major contribution to total market volume came from TRG, UNITY and HASCOL accounting for a total of 55M shares out of the total market volume of 213M shares.