The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a strong buying rally on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing on a bullish note at 159,208, up 1,043 points or 0.66%.

The index touched an intraday high of 159,538 points, underscoring strong investor confidence throughout the session.

Analysts attributed the rally to the government’s landmark agreement aimed at addressing the ballooning Rs1.225 trillion circular debt in the power sector, a breakthrough that significantly lifted market sentiment.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the deal was finalised under the Prime Minister’s Task Force, with critical input from the State Bank of Pakistan, 18 commercial banks, and the Pakistan Banks Association (PBA).

The agreement includes restructuring Rs660 billion of existing debt and providing an additional Rs565 billion in new financing to power generation companies to clear outstanding dues.

Market momentum was further supported by stellar performances from HUBC, ENGROH, MARI, EFERT, and HBL, which collectively added 1,145 points to the index. Profit-taking in LUCK, OGDC, and UBL, however, pared back 325 points from the gains.

Investor participation remained robust. Topline Securities reported that total traded volumes hit 1.67 billion shares, with a turnover of Rs55.2 billion.

K-Electric (KEL) dominated the volume charts, with 406 million shares traded during the session.