KARACHI: The Pakistani stock market closed higher on Wednesday after a steep fall the previous day.

Investors bought cautiously although uncertainty remained over the resolution of a anti-corruption demonstration in the capital.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index ended 0.46 per cent, or 73.58 points, higher at 16,181.47.

Investors who bought stocks in oil, cement and fertilizer helped the index to gain 73 points. Volumes remained low with activity remained confined towards mid cap stocks, said dealer Samar Iqbal at Topline Securities.

“We expect the market to be politically driven in the upcoming days and better than expected results in the upcoming result season should also provide support to the index,” said a dealer at JS Global Capital Ltd.

Fauji Cement rose 1.8 per cent to 6.78 per share while Byco Petroleum was up 3.67 per cent to 12.99 per share.

Maple Leaf Cement dropped 0.28 per cent to 14.28 per share and Askari Bank fell 0.34 per cent to 17.76 per share.

Over Rs130 billion had been wiped out from market capitalisation on Tuesday when the KSE-100 fell by 525 points — the worst single-day decline in over four years since May 2008.

In the currency market, the Pakistani rupee ended weaker at 97.58/97.64 against the dollar, compared to Tuesday’s close of 97.40/97.45.

Overnight rates in the money market remained flat at 9.40 per cent.