KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its northward journey fuelled by positive economicdata,which drew significant buying interest in equities at attractive valuations amid strong expectations of another cut in the policy rate.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said stocks stayed bullish amid speculations ahead of major earnings announcements this week. The government`s deliberation to resolve circular debt and China`s debt rollover supported the index in closing near-session highs.

Other positive triggers were imminent inflows from the International Monetary Fund under the Extended Fund Facility and Resilience Support Fund next month and growing anticipation of further cuts in the SBP policy rate amid thin inflation.Topline Securities Ltd said bulls asserted their dominance, propelling the benchmark KSE 100 index to an intraday high of 118,827.47 (a gain of 1,511 points) before closing at118,383.38, marking a surge of 1,063.79 points or 0.91 per cent day-on-day.

The rally was primarily driven by better-thanexpected corporate earnings, which bolstered inves-tor sentiment and sparked widespread buying.

Heavyweight stocks played a crucial role in powering the index higher. Meezan Bank, MCB Bank, United Bank, Sui NorthernGas Pipeline Ltd, and Hub Power collectively contributed 827 points underscoring their substantial influence on market direction.

Market activity was rob-ust as the trading volume surged 58.17pc to 672.44 million shares while the traded value rose 5.58pc to Rs36.42bn day-on-day.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Cnergyico PK (103.02m shares), Power Cement (62.58m shares), The Bank of Punjab (42.58m shares), Sui Southern Gas (29.21m shares), Sui Northern Gas (28.84m shares).

The shares registering the most significant increases in their share prices in absolute terms were Unilever Foods (Rs99.00), Atlas Honda (Rs43.39), Khyber Textile (Rs41.34), Sazgar Engineering Works Ltd (Rs35.93) and S.S. Oil Mills (Rs26.81).

The companies registering significant decreases in their share prices in absolute terms were Hoechst Pakistan (Rs184.70), Nestle Pakistan (Rs98.86), Ghandhara Industries (Rs18.76), Indus Motor (Rs17.07) and Al-Abbas Sugar (Rs15.00).