The Pakistan Stock Exchange continued to gain in Wednesday’s session. The KSE100 index closed 170 points in the positive to reach 46,091.

The index gained over 300 points right at the opening bell and then continued to hover around those levels for most of trading. Some selling pressure was witnessed in the second half of trading which caused the index to lose half of its gains from the first half.

Oil prices have continued to gain in the international market which is a positive development for Pakistan’s index heavy weight E&P sector. The market continued its rise as the second wave of Coronavirus seems to be on the decline. Investors welcome the prospect that no new restrictions will be introduced due to the virus.

Globally markets continued to rise as investors shrugged off the worsening pandemic in a number of regions of the world. Global oil prices are now at a 1-year high in view of an industry report showing a further drop in inventory levels.

At the closing bell 210 companies had advanced with 174 closing in the red. 16 scrips remained unchanged.

Market participation for the KSE100 Index decreased to 466M from 507M in the previous session (-8% on d/d basis). Major contribution to total market volume came from KEL, PIBTL and POWER combined for 235M shares out of the total market volume of 845M shares.