On Thursday, the benchmark KSE-100 Index snapped a three-day losing trend, finishing 228 points higher despite lower trading volume compared to Wednesday. To close, the KSE-100 gained 228.41 points, or 0.49 percent, and ended at 46,625.12. The index closed with a gain of 0.49 percent. IT startup Octopus Digital had a successful first day of book-building for its initial public offering (IPO), with the whole offer volume (27.35 million shares) being sold in the first half-hour. After the bidding session commenced, offers reached 7.7x times the issue size of 27.35 million by the end of the first day, versus the issue size of 27.35 million. There is still an entire day of book-building ahead of us. When trading ended on day one, Octopus Digital had received offers for 211,080,0012 shares at the strike price of Rs40.6 per share, exceeding the company’s maximum allotment of Rs40.6. Bullish enthusiasm also prevailed in the technology sector, with Avanceon Limited, the parent company of Octopus Digital and a public company listed on the exchange, finishing at the top of the trading range. Among those contributing to the benchmark KSE-100 index’s positive performance on Thursday were the technology and communication (53.92 points), fertiliser (45.65 points), and oil and gas exploration sectors (41.86 points). Volume on the all-share index fell from 477.87 million shares on Wednesday to 396.43 million shares on Thursday, representing a 12pc fall. The value of shares traded during the day, on the other hand, increased from Rs14.69 billion to Rs16.53 billion, representing a 6pc gain. Following Ghani Global Holdings, which had 56.82 million shares traded, Telecard Limited had 41.12 million shares traded and WorldCall Telecom had 20.39 million shares traded, putting them in first and second place, respectively. On Thursday, the shares of 525 companies were traded, with 252 of them seeing an increase in value, 245 seeing a decrease, and 28 seeing no change in value.