KARACHI: Pakistani stocks ended Thursday’s session at an all-time closing high, a day ahead of the government’s announcement of the annual budget that is expected to benefit sectors such as fertilizers, cement and textiles, analysts said.

The rupee ended stronger at 104.66/104.71 against the dollar, compared with Wednesday’s close of 104.79/104.80. Rates in the money market dropped to 4.50 from Wednesday’s close of 6 percent.

The benchmark 100-share index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange finished up 0.94 percent, or 342.98 points, at 36,839.14, after rising as much as 1.05 percent to a record high earlier in the day.

“Today’s activity, although conflicting at times, was broad- based across most of the listed sectors,” said Gohar Rasool, head of international sales at Inter Market Securities Pvt Ltd.

Major gainers for the day included shares of Fauji Fertilizer Company Ltd, which rose 2.19 percent, Nestle Pakistan Ltd, up 5 percent, and Lucky Cement Ltd, up 2.02 percent.

Shares of Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd. gained 1.36 percent, Pakistan Petroleum Ltd. closed up 1.88 percent and Pakistan Oilfields Ltd. rose 1.41 percent.

Traded volume on the day stood at 219 million shares, 1.5 times the 30-day average, with value at 11.4 billion rupees ($108.92 million).