The Pakistan Stock Exchange has ended Thursday’s trading session on a positive note, with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 322.50 points, or 0.63 per cent, by the close of the trading session to reach 51,426.01.

Trading was primarily led by commercial banking stocks as volumes surged to nearly 112 million shares.

"KSE-100 opened on a strong note [...] as oil majors were bid up in pre-market activity given overnight gains in crude," said a note issued by Topline Securities. "Drawdown in US stockpiles beat estimates & helped prices soar, with WTI gaining $2 trading above $48/bbl."

"Further, settlement of Dawn [story probe] lifted sentiments and helped sustain gains which pushed the index to another all-time high closing," it added.

"Mid-session pressure was witnessed on concerns for $26.6bn trade deficit for Jul-April 2017," said Arif Habib Corp's Ahsan Mehanti. "Easing rift between Civil government and military, surge in global crude prices amid drop in US crude stocks, and speculations ahead of MSCI EM status played a catalyst role in the record close," he added.

111.85 million shares changed hands by the end of the session, with a total worth of nearly Rs11.22 billion.

Stocks of 381 companies were traded, of which 229 gained in value, 136 declined and 16 remained unchanged.

Volumes were led by:

1. Summit Bank: 31.2m shares traded [+18.87pc];

2. WorldCall Telecom: 24.9m shares traded [-5.56pc];

3. Dewan Cement: 20.5m shares traded [+3.58pc];

4. Byco Petroleum: 20.4m shares traded [+4.98pc]; and,

5. Aisha Steel Mill: 18.1m shares traded [+0.91pc].