WorldCall, Bank Alfalah lead gains

Karachi: Pakistan's benchmark KSE Index of 100 shares rose 62.46, or 0.6 per cent, to 10,088.45, at the 3.30pm local time close. The measure gained for a third day.

Overseas investors bought a net $6.7 million of Pakistani stocks on the exchange on March 12, according to statement on the website of National Clearing Co of Pakistan. Net buying by overseas investors in March reached almost $57 million, it said.

Bank Alfalah Ltd climbed 4.6 per cent to Rs12.63. The lender plans to pay an 8 per cent dividend for the year ended December 31, 2009, according to its statement yesterday.

Abdul Shakur, a banking analyst at InvestCapital & Securities Ltd. in Karachi, said the lender hadn't been expected to pay a full-year dividend.

WorldCall Telecom Ltd, a phone company, rose 5.4 per cent, to Rs5.23.