Pakistan, April 3 -- The stock market staged a handsome rally on Thursday and soared close to 1,300 points as investors cherry-picked stocks that had dropped to attractive valuations following multiple rounds of hammering in the past month owing to the spread of COVID-19 in Pakistan.

The lockdown imposed by the government seems to be effective as the number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan has been largely contained. Market participants considered it a good omen and made fresh investment.

In addition to that, the government is due to announce a Rs100-billion package for the construction industry on Friday, which further fueled investor optimism.

During the day, international crude oil prices surged over 10% and investors opted for oil ...