The Pakistan Stock Exchange has started the week on a positive note, with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 631.48 points, 1.24 per cent, by the close of the Monday trading session to reach 51,373.51.

Most activity was seen in commercial banking stocks as trading volumes remained lower than average.

"Major positive contribution came from the oil sector, on the back of rising oil prices on global expectations of output cuts," said Nabeel Haroon of JS Global Capital.

He added, "Banking sector heavyweights experienced a stock price hike as well, with UBL, HBL and MCB cumulatively contributing 225 points to the index."

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp said, "Pre-budget speculations in steel, cement sectors amid gains from CPEC projects, surging exports in the textile sector, likely subsidies in fertiliser sector and renewed hopes for economic growth on OBOR initiatives played a catalyst role in the record close."

Only 53.46 million shares had changed hands by the end of the session, with a total worth of nearly Rs9 billion.

Stocks of 395 companies were traded, of which 237 gained in value, 148 declined and 10 remained unchanged.

Volumes were led by:

1. Silk Bank Ltd: 16.75m shares traded [-2.62pc];

2. Pervez Ahmed: 13.1m shares traded [+11.69pc];

3. WorldCall Telecom: 11.15m shares traded [-1.74pc];

4. Dewan Farooque Sp: 8.37m shares traded [+0.55pc]; and,

5. Dewan Motors: 8.04m shares traded [+4.82pc].