Index gains 65.71 points

The KSE-100 index on Monday recovered to close at the level of 11,289.23 points on the back of foreign investors and local institutions support. The local investors' concerns over the prevailing political situation in the country, however, kept the market under pressure as the index remained oscillating between 11,363.64 points intra-day high, up 140.12 points and 11,077.54 points intra-day low, down 145.98 points.
Late buying by foreign investors in some select stocks supported the index to close in positive. Due to less participation of local retail investors, trading remained low and the volume at ready counter declined to 86.234 million shares as compared to 156.838 million shares traded on last trading session.
Market capitalisation increased by Rs 21 billion to Rs 3.058 trillion. Of 364 active scrips, 190 closed in positive and 84 in negative, while the value of 90 scrips remained unchanged.
Lotte Pakistan PTA was the volume leader with 13.957 million shares and gained Re 0.45 to close at Rs 14.53. Arif Habib Corp increased by Re 0.93 to close at Rs 19.90 with 6.456 million shares. NBP and BoP surged by Rs 1.18 and Re 0.41 to close at Rs 68.19 and Rs 7.11 with 5.458 million shares and 3.086 million shares respectively. Azgard Nine inched up by Re 0.66 to close at Rs 8.83 with 5.207 million shares. Jahangir Siddiqui Co gained Re 0.71 to close at Rs 8.97 with 3.602 million shares.
Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim increased by Re 0.96 to close at Rs 40.33 with 3.084 million shares while Fauji Fertiliser Co (FFC) surged by Rs 4.92 to close at Rs 114.74 with 2.102 million shares. OGDC declined by Rs 7.21 to close at Rs 145.39 with 2.711 million shares. Hub Power Co increased by Rs 1.78 to close at Rs 38.74 with 1.887 million shares.
Unilever Pak and Nestle Pakistan were the highest gainers increasing by Rs 102.78 and Rs 48.00 respectively, while Rafhan Maize and Wyeth Pak were the worst losers declining by Rs 77.51 and Rs 31.26 respectively. Hasnain Asghar Ali at Aziz Fidahusein Co said that the short covering, triggered by fresh inflow mainly by government treasuries, did allow the index to attain healthy closing despite maximum decline in the value of OGDC, was indeed a positive trigger. Low volumes, however, depicted lack of wider follow-up due to gloomy situation on various fronts.
He said that well-poised for technical bounce-back, the bourse gave a positive posture during initial trades, where in the main board stocks having a healthy dividend history along with growth potential, did invite renewed accumulation by the resident participants. The unofficial announcement of early launch of leverage product was then duly circulated in order to firm up positively. Absence of follow-up support, as depicted by low turnover and sell-off in high priced stocks, mainly OGDC, by the exit-seeking aliens and locals executing from beyond boundaries, however, made life miserable for the resident participants, he added.