Energy shares lead KSE higher, rupee flat

KARACHI: Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) ended higher on Tuesday, led by energy stocks, amid reports that oil marketing companies' margins likely would increase.

Local newspaper reported that the government is expected on Tuesday to enhance the profits of the oil marketing companies and petroleum dealers by up to 47 percent through an increase in retail prices.

KSE benchmark 100-share index closed 0.61 percent, or 67.65 points, higher at 11,233.75.

Volume rose slightly to 26.8 million shares from 25.9 million shares traded on Monday.

"The market was soft in the morning today, but oil stocks staged a small rally towards the end," said Sajid Bhanji, director at brokers Arif Habib Ltd.

"Since the energy stocks are heavy weights, it resulted in a jump in the index despite the thin volumes," he said.

In the currency market, the rupee ended at 86.60/65 to the dollar, unchanged from Monday's close, as dollar inflows matched its demand.

"There were some import payments today, but the market was even and inflows matched the outflows," said a dealer at a foreign bank.

The rupee fell to a record low of 86.83 this month but dealers said a further slide in the local unit is likely to be prevented by a rise in remittances from overseas Pakistanis.

According to official data, remittances rose 38.57 percent to $1.1 billion in the first month of 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $791.18 million in the same period last year.

In the money market, overnight rates ended at 13.0 percent, little changed from the previous day.

Copyright Reuters, 2011