KARACHI, May 21: Foreign investors went wild on Pakistani equities on Tuesday, picking up a staggering $26 million worth of stocks mainly from the heavyweight ‘oil and gas’ sector.

As a result, the KSE-100 index surged by 354 points to cross the barrier of 21,000 points and settle at 21,168 points.

The trading frenzy was evident by the volume, which stood at 444 million shares on Tuesday, representing one-year high. The traded value was Rs17 billion, which was a high for 43 months.

The foreign bulls have been on the rampage making aggregate net inflow of a record $181m in stocks in only about 15 trading sessions so far in May. The stock rally intensified even before the elections when the first reliable forecasts placed PML-N ahead of the rest in the race.

“Investors have taken heart and are pinning hopes on the government led by industrialist prime minister to resolve the myriad problems faced by the economy,” said a stock broker.

However, some analysts expressed fears that the market was ‘over-heated’ and advocated caution.