0
KARACHI: Pakistani stocks ended almost flat on Friday, initially buoyed by mid-tier stock buys on hopes of healthy corporate profits but were later dragged down when the index crossed 14,000 points, a key psychological line, dealers said.
The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index closed 0.05 per cent, or 7.01 points, higher at 13,936.48.
Volume was 244.2 million shares, compared with 182.59 million shares traded on Thursday.
“The market once again failed to close above 14,000 ... as investors remained cautious,” said Samar Iqbal, a dealer at Topline Securities.
The KSE-index hit an intra-day high of 14,061.05 points.
Amongst the most active companies, Engro Polymer ended 2.5 per cent higher at 13.14 rupees, Pakistan Telecommunication Co Ltd closed 4.75 per cent higher at 13.90 rupees and Jahangir Siddiqui fell 3.66 per cent to close at 18.14 rupees.
In the currency market, the rupee ended weaker at 90.75/80 to the dollar, compared with Thursday’s close of 90.71/76 because of a rise in import payments.
The rupee has been supported by remittances, which rose 21.45 per cent to $9.73 billion in the first nine months of the 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $8.02 billion in the same period last year.
In March, remittances totaled $1.14 billion.
In its monetary policy statement last Friday, the State Bank of Pakistan said the external sector was likely to remain under pressure because of both external debt payments and a lack of foreign aid.
Pakistan’s current account deficit widened to a provisional $3.089 billion in the first nine months of the 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $10 million over the same period in the previous year, the central bank said on Wednesday.
Overnight rates in the money market ended flat at 11.90 per cent, unchanged from the previous day’s close amid tight liquidity in the interbank market.
