KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its recovery drive for the second straight day on Tuesday as investors indulged in value-hunting on growing optimism about the economic outlook.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the market extended overnight gains amid reports of Fitch Ratings upgrade of Pakistan`s Long Term Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating by one notch to `B-` with a stable outlook.

He added that the surging global equities, record remittances in March, and steep deceleration in inflation fuelled bullish sentiments.

Ali Najib, Head of Sales at Insight Securities, said the PSX continued its northward journey thanks to macroeconomic optimism, improved global indicators, and technical momentum driven by the index`srecent rebound from last week`s volatility.

The index stayed in the green zone throughout the trading hours as investors took positive vibes from the SBP governor`s speech at the PSX the other day, where he highlighted improve-ments in many macro indicators.

Topline Securities Ltd said the benchmark KSE 100 index gained 385.46 points, or 0.33 per cent, to close at 116,775.50. The positive momentum was supported by stability in global markets and theonset of the corporate results season, prompting investors to take fresh positions.

Gains were largely driven by key index movers including Engro Holdings, Lucky Cement, Oil and Gas Development Company, TRG Pakistan,and PSO, which collectively added 325 points to the index. Conversely, Hub Power, Meezan Bank Ltd, Mari Energies, Fauji Cement Company and GlaxoSmithKline wiped out 159 points.

However, the trading volume edged lower by1.04pc to 479.46 million shares while the traded value rose 11.00pc to Rs30.44bn day-on-day.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Cnergyico PK (32.09m shares), TRG Pakistan (21.51m shares), The Bank of Punjab (20.78m shares), Dewan Cement (19.44m shares) and Sui Southern Gas (15.77m shares).

The shares registering the most significant increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Foods (Rs184.62), PIA Holding Company [B] (Rs142.36), Atlas Honda (Rs89.05), Macter International (Rs27.32) and Lucky Cement (Rs26.64).

The companies registering significant decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Philip Morris (Rs85.61), Nestle Pakistan (Rs58.56), Sapphire Textile (Rs45.80), Supernet Techno (Rs37.20) and Rafhan Maize (Rs31.66).