KARACHI, June 27: Shares rebounded on the stock market on Wednesday with the KSE-100 index rising by 143.08 points or 1.05 per cent and closed at 13,799.12 points.

Investors seemed to be excited over the visit of General John Allen, top US Commander stationed in Afghanistan later in the day. He was expected to hold talks with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Pervaiz Ashfaq Kayani to discuss the restoration of Nato supply routes, that have been closed since November 2011, when Nato air strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Talks to end the seven-month blockade have reached stalemate over Pakistani demands for a formal apology and US insistence on letting the subject drop, which has soured Pakistan's relations with the US.

Samar Iqbal, Equity Dealer at Topline Securities said that the market witnessed across the board buying amid hopes that Nato supply issue could be resolved in the meeting between Nato commander and Pakistani officials.

Volumes were higher than the last many days, but remained lower than the average of a good day, as investors preferred to adopt wait and see strategy ahead of June closing.

Hasnain Asghar Ali, a market commentator, stated that the positive activity on Wednesday was mainly attributable to June-end portfolio dressing, which kept the benchmark on the gaining ground, with E&P sector being the major contributor. It was well supported by wide-spread frontline stocks.

Relatively stable political scene kept the accumulators in search of stocks likely to perform in coming quarters and mainly those which were thought to announce healthy payouts, thus inviting marginally higher volumes to support the gains.

Strength in remaining sessions of the running fiscal year would provide stock and sector swapping opportunities, with surge of turnover expected due to various steps incorporated in budget for revival of capital markets, the analysts reckoned.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp observed that the Pakistan stocks closed higher on investor speculations ahead of year-end closing and expectations of improvement in Pak-US ties on possible resumption of Nato supply routes following diplomatic meetings.

Institutional support in blue-chip stocks across the board played a catalyst role in bullish sentiments despite concerns for security situation in the city and uncertainty in global stocks and commodities on prevailing eurozone debt crises.

The KSE-30 index gained 154.10 points to 11,933.77 points and a sum of Rs33 billion was added to market capitalisation, which rose to Rs3.518 trillion, from Rs3.485 trillion. Volume increased to Rs94 million shares on Wednesday, from 58 million shares traded the day before.

Among the 365 stocks that came up for trading on Wednesday, 164 were gainers, 123 losers and 78 remained unchanged.

The highest increase was noted in Rafhan Maize Product, which shot up by Rs117.33 to Rs3,050, followed by Nestle Pakistan up by Rs66.71 to Rs4,068.92. The laggards were led by UniLever Food, down by Rs75 to Rs2,750 and UniLever Pak losing Rs51.75 to Rs7,298.25.

On the active list, BankIslami Pakistan was in the forefront with 10m shares traded up by 13 paisa to Rs9.35. Bank Alfalah followed with an increase of 37 paisa to Rs17.67 on 7m shares, PTCL edged higher by 13 paisa to Rs13.98 on 7m shares and Azgard Nine rose by 73 paisa to Rs6.80 on 7m shares.

Jah Sidd Co was up by 6 paisa to Rs12.65 on 6m shares, Summit Bank slipped 13 paisa to Rs3.22 on 4m shares, D.G.Khan Cement rose by 76 paisa to Rs39.93 on 4m shares, Fauji Fertilizer jumped by Rs1.34 to Rs111.85 on 4m shares, Fatima Fertiliser closed higher by 33 paisa to Rs24.52 on 3m shares and National Bank of Pakistan gained 33 paisa to Rs43.99 on 2m shares.