Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)welcomed New Year with an exciting performance, as benchmark kse-100 index crossed 44,000 mark for the first time in over 30 months and closed at 44,434.80 index level. On January 1st, the index rallied over 1000 points to touch an intraday high of 4,870.90, but later settled with 679.42 points gain. The New Year market session was buoyed by psitive inflation numbers and the news of a possible agreement between the government and the Independent Power Plants (IPPs) over the payment terms of the outstanding circular debt fueled a rally on the first trading session of the New Year. The new-flow injectedmajor rally in Oil & Gas Exploration Companies sector which added 240 points to the index, while Power Generation & Distribution added 159 points, Commercial Banks added 123 points, Oil & Gas Marketing Companies added 116 points and Fertilizer added 58 points. Among the companies, the most points added to the index was by Hub Power Company which contributed 132 points followed by Pakistan Petroleum Limited with 103 points, Oil &Gas Development Company Limited with 94 points, Pakistan State Oil with 78 points and United Bank Limited with 46 points. However, during the session, sectorswhich added pressure on the index were Technology & Communication with 21 points, Engineering with 14 points, Pharmaceuticals with 10 points, Cement with 8 points and Food & Personal Care Products with 8 points. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by TRG Pakistan Limited which stripped the index of 20 points followed by Cherat Cement Company Limited with 9 points, International Industries Limited with 8 points, The Searle Company Limited with 8 points and Maple Leaf Cement Factory with 8 points. According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) foreign investors welcomed the year with a buying of $0.477 million worth of equities. Among local investors, Mutual Funds led the buying chart with $5.47 million worth of equities followed by Brokers with $1.3 million worth of equities. However, Banks were net sellers of worth $4.17 million worth of equities. Meanwhile,as per the weekly performance, investor participation improved by 5.2 percent with average volumes clocking-in at 640 million, while the average traded value also increased by 1.3 per cent from the previous week to reach$142 million. For the week, foreign investors continued to offload positions as the net sell clocked-in at $46.2 million. This selling was mainly absorbed by local companies and individuals with inflows of $41.1 million and $20.0 million respectively. During the week, sectors which lifted the index were Oil Marketing Companies by 6.3% , Power by 6.2% and Technology & Communications by 5.1% , while Textile sector also remained in the limelight during the week due to encouraging news from firms in the sector which received major export orders for the next six months.