KARACHI: The bullish momentum in the Karachi Stock Exchange continued on Wednesday with the benchmark 100-index breaching the 35,000-point barrier for the first time.

Stocks extended their rally owing to the rise of oil prices in the international market, as the KSE-100 index gained more than 200 points or 0.6 per cent on Wednesday.

Moreover, the corporate financial results have also begun coming in showing positive results in most cases.

Both factors combined result in the high trading activity by foreign and local investors.

The KSE-100 index gained 150.20 points, or 0.43 per cent, on Tuesday to settle at an all-time high of 34,826.51 points. Overseas investors swi­t­ched to the oil and gas sector with the increase in oil prices.

“While the rise in international oil prices kept investors’ interest alive in the heavyweight energy stocks, cement stocks saw profit-taking after rallying in the last few sessions,” analysts said.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp observed that the stocks closed on a new all-time high, led by blue chip oil stocks amid sharp recovery in WTI crude oil, crossing the $51/barrel. Favourable CPI inflation data for January 2015 at 3.88pc YoY renewed hopes for disbursement of $550m tranche following IMF review and expectations of key announcements on privatisation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) played a catalyst role in bullish acti­vity at KSE.