Karachi Stock Exchange index ends up, rupee weakens

KARACHI: Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) ended higher on Thursday as investors took advantage of a sharp fall the previous day to buy up cheap shares, especially banks, dealers said.

The KSE benchmark 100-share index rose 0.38 percent, or 44.69 points, higher at 11,685.15 after falling 2.28 percent on Wednesday. Volume was 75.41 million shares compared with 112.42 million shares traded on Wednesday.

"The market was led by banking sector scripts after rumours regarding possible favourable provision requirements for non-performing loans," said Ahsan Mehanti, director at Arif Habib Investments Ltd.

National Bank of Pakistan ended 4.69 percent higher at 44.90 rupees.

In the currency market, the rupee weakened to 86.70/76 to the dollar, compared with the previous day's close of 86.66/71, amid increased import payments.

The rupee firmed in the previous trading sessions on healthy remittances from Pakistanis living abroad, but dealers said a widening current account deficit means that the local currency could experience downward pressure in days ahead.

Pakistan's current account deficit surged to a provisional $908 million in September, compared with a deficit of $201 million in the previous month.

For the July-September quarter, the deficit was a provisional $1.209 billion, compared with $597 million in the same period last year, according to data from the State Bank of Pakistan.

In the money market, overnight rates ended at their floor of 9 percent, compared with Wednesday's close of 11.90 percent, amid increased liquidity in the interbank market.

Dealers said there were scheduled inflows of 235 billion rupees ($2.71 billion), against outflows of 113 billion rupees.

Copyright Reuters, 2011