Index gains 145.78 points

The KSE-100 index on Wednesday registered healthy recovery of 145.78 points and closed at 11,745.06 points on the back of revived interest of local investors in the oversold market. Foreign investors, however, remained on the selling side and a net outflow of $2.1 million of foreign investors' portfolio investment was seen from the market.
The market opened on a positive note and remained bullish throughout the session. The index hit 11,780.41 points intra-day high level. Trading improved and the volume at ready counter increased to 72.964 million shares as compared to 56.301 million shares traded on Tuesday.
Market capitalisation increased by Rs 37 billion to Rs 3.128 trillion. Of 378 active scrips, 176 closed in positive and 103 in negative, while the values of 99 scrips remained unchanged. Investors' interest was seen in the fertiliser sector. Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim was the volume leader with 9.219 million shares and gained Rs 1.44 to close at Rs 41.97. Fauji Fertiliser Co (FFC) increased by Rs 1.25 to close at Rs 140.32 with 2.051 million shares. Lotte Pakistan PTA inched up by Re 0.46 to close at Rs 15.61 with 8.177 million shares.
Fresh buying was also seen in the E&P sector. OGDC and POL surged by Rs 2.72 and Rs 6.60 to close at Rs 131.85 and Rs 325.63 with 4.692 million shares and 1.954 million shares respectively. Bank Al Falah and NBP gained Re 0.24 and Re 0.69 to close at Rs 10.81 and Rs 53.69 with 3.002 million shares and 2.251 million shares respectively. Nishat Mills increased by Rs 2.00 to close at Rs 64.09 with 2.515 million shares. Arif Habib Corp lost Re 0.10 to close at Rs 24.45 with 2.275 million shares. PTCL inched up by Re 0.04 to close at Rs 16.44 with 1.757 million shares.
Wyeth Pak and Indus Dyeing were the highest gainers, increasing by Rs 31.18 and Rs 8.13 to close at Rs 990.00 and Rs 296.48 respectively, while Nestle Pakistan and Rafhan Maize were the worst losers declining by Rs 49.94 and Rs 15.88 to close at Rs 3488.81 and Rs 2439.58 respectively. Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Investments said that bullish activity was witnessed in scrips across the board on strong institutional and local investors' interest in the oversold market after record earning announcements in oil and gas sector.
He said that positive investor sentiment prevailed ahead of major earning announcements this week after SBP announcement for Pakistan current account surplus and record remittances for nine months of fiscal year 2010-11 despite security concerns in the city. The recovery in global stocks and commodities also was another reason that played a catalyst role in bullish activity at the local bourse, he added.