ISLAMABAD: Stocks witnessed a slowdown on Monday as investors decided to cash in after last week's rally, but the index still squeaked out a four-year high on the close despite the pullback by foreign investors, analysts said.
The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index closed 0.04 percent, or 5.69 points, higher at 14,617.97, with a volume of 174.8 million shares. The KSE closed at 14,612.28 on Friday, when heavy activity by foreign investors inspired a market rally.
Foreign investors bought shares worth $1,945,963 on Monday, compared to the purchase of shares worth $19,569,904 on Friday.
"The foreign flows that was seen last week may not continue if regional markets remain under pressure," said Samar Iqbal, a dealer at Topline Securities.
In the currency market, the rupee closed almost flat at 90.74/79 to the dollar, compared with Friday's close of 90.76/78.
The rupee has been supported by remittances, which rose 21.45 percent 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.
Overnight rates in the money market ended at 11.90 percent, up from Friday's close of 11 percent because of decreased liquidity in the market.
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