Pakistan Stock Exchange's (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 index breached the 71,000 psychological barrier during trading by hitting record high of 71,575.76 mark on Monday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The index was up by 665.86 points or 0.9 percent. The stock market has surged 74% over the past year and is up 10.43% year-to-date.

Pakistan is aiming to agree on the outline for a new International Monetary Fund loan on May, and "good March quarter dividends are helping share prices rally.

The bullish trend continued in stock market despite last week jitter when KSE-100 started the trading session negative on reports of Israel’s attack on Iran. The market soon recovered from the development.

Buying activity was observed in sectors such as automobile assemblers, chemicals, oil and gas exploration companies, and oil marketing companies.

The ongoing bullish trend is also influenced by surge in corporate earnings reported by local listed companies this quarter. 

On the last trading day on Friday, the PSX had concluded on a stronger note with the benchmark index posted highest-ever closing at 70,909 points posting 0.85% WoW gain. 

Overall, average trading volume was reported at 492.37 million shares, up 43.51% WoW, clocking in at 2.46 billion shares, as compared to 1.72 billion shares traded in the earlier week.

Reporter Ashraf Khan