The Pakistan Stock Exchange closed Wednesday on a positive note amidst thinner volumes, with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 302 points, or 0.61 per cent, by close of trading session to reach 49,754.72.

The exchange had closed flat a day earlier as market participation declined due to heightened monitoring by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

On Wednesday, 95.42m shares of indexed companies changed hands, with a total worth of nearly Rs8.86 billion.

Overall volumes touched 245.07m shares, with a total worth of nearly Rs12.36bn. Stocks of 386 companies were traded on the exchange, of which 206 gained in value, 159 declined and 21 remained unchanged.

Chemicals stocks attracted the most interest, followed by engineering, oil and gas marketing, cement and banking scrips.

Volumes were led by:

1. Lotte Chemical: 28.33m shares traded (-4.15pc);

2. Aisha Steel Mill: 15.39m shares traded (+4.26pc);

3. Sui South Gas: 15.15m shares traded (+3.38pc);

4. K-Electric Ltd.: 12.76m shares traded (-0.20pc); and,

5. Azgard Nine: 12.3m shares traded (+0.74pc).

"KSE-100 resumed its upward trend after bouncing off a strong technical support in yesterday’s session," read a note from Topline Securities. "The 100 Index opened positive, surging to a high of 49,778 points on the back of buying across the board, and managed to sustain gains through the session to close off near it’s high," it added.