Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)continued to witness exciting performance, as benchmark kse-100 index rose 251.66 points on the first trading day of the week to close at 44,686.46 level During the session, bullish trend during the early hours lifted index beyond 45,000 mark- the first time in over 30 months and touched its intra-day high at 45,074.37, after it gained 639.57 points. However, the index later shed it earlier gains and touched intra-day low at 44,434.80 level. The market sentiments during the session were buoyed by the news of a possible agreement between the government and the Independent Power Plants (IPPs) over the payment terms of the outstanding circular debt. The new-flow injectedmajor rally in Oil & Gas Exploration Companies sector, Power Generation & Distribution and Oil & Gas Marketing Companies not only due to an increase in international crude prices but also on the back of expected release of stuck up receivables of Pakistan Petroleum Limited and Oil & Gas Development Company Limited. Last week, In the wake of the first meeting with a delegation of the IPPs to discuss payment of circular debt and implementation of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed with the power producers, the government has decided to pay Rs135 billion out of Rs450bn circular debt and settle the remaining amount by the end of the current calendar year. It has been agreed that of the total outstanding receivables amounting to Rs450bn, the government will pay 30 per cent now and the remaining payment will take place in equal tranches by June and December. According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) foreign investors remained net sellers of worth $0.18 million worth of equities. Among local investors, Mutual Funds led the buying chart with $6.57 million worth of equities followed by Insurance Companies with $2.19 million worth of equities. However, Banks were net sellers of worth $6.02 million worth of equities. The volume chart was led by Pak Elektron Limited, Hub Power Company Limited and Hascol Petroleum Limited. The scrips exchanged 27.37 million, 25.37 million and 24.96 million shares, respectively. The volume at the kse-100 was recorded 335.13 million shares, whereas the overall market volumes fell from 642.58 million shares on Friday to 540.61 million shares. Sectors that lifted the index included oil & gas exploration companies by 164.59 points, power generation & distribution by 127.84 points and oil & gas marketing by 96.90 points). Among the scrips, the most points added to the index were by Hub Power Company Limited, which added 104.78 points, followed by Pakistan State Oil Company Limited by 80.22 points and Pakistan Petroleum Limited by 78.85 points. Sectors that added pressure on the index were Technology & Communication by 96 points, Cement by 87 points, Automobile Assembler by 24 points, Engineering with 18 points and Vanaspati& Allied Industries by 13 points. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by TRG Pakistan Limited which stripped the index of 62 points followed by Systems Limited with 33 points, Lucky Cement with 31 points, DG Khan Cement with 21 points and Engro Corporation Limited with 19 points.