Pakistan stocks shrugged off negativity over expectation of strong corporate earnings, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index accumulated gains throughout the session to settle above the 46,000-point level on Wednesday.

Volume of shares on the all-share index also showed visible improvement, amounting to over 243 million.

At close, the KSE-100 settled with a gain of 391.81 points or 0.85% to finish at 46,339.76. This is the KSE-100's highest closing level since November 19 last year.

The index has struggled to cross the 46,000-point barrier in recent months, and did so only once earlier this month.

“Pakistan equities carried forward the bullish momentum to welcome strong corporate earnings coupled with healthy payouts,” said Topline Securities in its post-market comment.

“The KSE-100 Index remained in the green zone throughout the day as investors confidently cherry-picked blue-chip stocks."

KSE-100 gains 107 points after another volatile session

The sectors driving the benchmark index upwards included banking (126.8 points), fertiliser (77.43 points) and oil and gas exploration (41.49 points).

"Bullish momentum was recorded as Brent and WTI dropped from its seven-year high," said Arif Habib Limited (AHL). "Oil slid more than 2% from recent seven-year highs as the resumption of indirect talks between the United States and Iran could revive an international nuclear agreement and allow more oil exports from the OPEC producer.

"Cement sector stayed under pressure due to higher international coal prices. In the banking sector, BAHL remained in the limelight as it announced tremendous financial result, beating market expectations.

"The psychological level of 46,000 was finally digested by the investors as across the board buying was observed in the last trading hour, which led the index to close in the green zone."

Volume on the all-share index increased to 243.15 million from 187.38 million on Tuesday. The value of shares traded also improved to Rs9.94 billion, up from Rs7.1 billion recorded in the previous session.

Treet Corporation was the volume leader with 16.81 million shares, followed by K-Electric Limited with 13.78 million shares, and Hum Network with 12.50 million shares.

Shares of 368 companies were traded on Wednesday, of which 242 registered an increase, 103 recorded a fall, and 23 remained unchanged.

This report was first published in Business Recorder on February 10, 2022.