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KARACHI: Pakistani stocks ended lower on Monday amid low turnover as investors stayed on the sidelines, dealers said.
The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index fell 0.08 per cent, or 9.40 points, to end at 11,674.83, according to the KSE's website.
Volume fell to 36.32 million shares, compared with 56.8 million shares traded on Friday.
“There was limited activity across the board as there are currently no positive triggers,” said Ahsan Mehanti, director at Arif Habib Investments Ltd.
Dealers said volume could pick up as blue chip companies are due to announce their corporate results for the quarter ended March 31, in the coming days.
In the currency market, the rupee closed at 84.27 to the dollar, according to a dealer at a local bank, compared with Friday's close of 84.20/30 because of higher import payments.
The rupee touched an 11-month high last week because of a record inflow of remittances in March, strong foreign exchange reserves, healthy exports and a current account surplus, according to analysts and officials.
Remittances by overseas Pakistanis increased by 22.37 per cent to more than $8 billion in the first nine months of the 2010/11 fiscal year, and in March a record $1.05 billion was received, according to data from the State Bank of Pakistan.
In the money market, overnight rates ended at 13 per cent, compared with Friday's close of between 13.25 per cent and 13.50 per cent as there were scheduled inflows of 10.6 billion ($126 million), dealers said.
