KARACHI: Pakistani stocks closed higher on Monday after the inflation rate hit a 33-month low, boosting the confidence of investors, traders said.
The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index ended 0.80 per cent, or 123.91 points, higher at 15,568.73 – a four-year high – on total volume of 135.80 million shares.
“Investors are hopeful that because inflation came down sharply, there is a high probability that the state bank will reduce the interest rate,” said Mohammad Sohail, chief executive at Topline Securities.
The central bank is expected to announce a monetary policy decision on October 5.
Pakistan’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 8.79 per cent in September from a year earlier, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.
The year-on-year rate in August was 9.1 per cent. On a month-on-month basis, the CPI increased by 0.79 per cent from August, according to the bureau.
In the currency market, the Pakistani rupee ended weaker at 94.88/94.94 to the dollar compared to Friday’s close of 94.75/94.80.
Overnight rates in the money market ended at 7.50 compared to 10.40 per cent on Friday.
