In a continuous battle between the bulls and bears at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), stocks staged a sharp recovery on Thursday, as benchmark KSE-100 index gained 787.78 points by the closing bell to clock at 44,741.36. Thursday’s recovery came after jitters in the previous session, which was led by heavy selling pressure by the foreign investors. However, as the selling pressure ended, the bulls took control of the bourse. Senior Vice President, BMA Capital Management Limited, Irfan Saeed said that Thursday’s pull-back can be linked to a technical bounce back, but he noted that index was also lifted by upbeat investors who are expecting strong financial result season, specifically the cement and steel sector, which have witnessed a surge in dispatches and sales. On Thursday, the index touched intra high of 44,759.37. The volume at KSE-100 slightly decreased from 195.15 million shares recorded in the previous session to 186 million shares, however the all-share volume surged from 370 million shares recorded in the previous session to 383 million shares. Market Capital increased by Rs.94.50 billion, while total value traded decreased by 2.37 billion to Rs.17.98 billion. The volume chart was led by Ghani Global Limited followed by TRG Pakistan Limited and Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited. The scrips exchanged 35.91 million, 28.69 million and 26 million shares, respectively. According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL) foreign investors were net sellers of $1.37 million worth of stocks. Among local Individuals, and other organizations led the selling chart and offloaded $1.79 million and $0.4 million worth of equities. However, the buying chart was led by Mutual Funds, Brokers and Insurance Companies, which mopped up $0.89 million, $0.870 million and $0.87 million worth of equities. During the session, sectors which lifted the index were Commercial Banks with 135 points, Technology & Communication with 121 points, Cement with 118 points, Fertilizer with 59 points and Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 55 points. Among the scrips, the most points added to the index was by TRG Pakistan which contributed 111 points followed by Lucky Cement with 50 points, Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited with 43 points, ENGRO with 37 points and Habib Bank Limited with 35 points. However, the sectors which dented the index were Miscellaneous with 1 point and Close – End Mutual Fund with 1 point. Among the scrips, the most points taken off the index was by Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited which stripped the index of 4 points followed by Indus Motors with 4 points, IGI Holdings Limited with 2 points, Shifa International Hospitals Limited with 1 point and Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited with 1 point.