Stocks end at 5 month high; rupee ends flat

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani stocks ended on a five-a-half-month high on Monday led by institutional buying in National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) on expectations of healthy corporate earnings, dealers said.

The Karachi Stock Exchange's benchmark 100-share index ended 0.61 percent, or 76.11 points, higher at 12,560.28, on turnover of only 57.26 million shares.

"The KSE-index closed on a more than five-month high and renewed interest was seen in NBP which closed at its upper circuit," said Samar Iqbal, a dealer at Topline Securities Ltd.

NBP ended five percent higher at 53.37 rupees and corporate results for the year ending June 30 are due to be announced in the coming weeks.

However volume remained thin on the local bourse and has generally been low in 2011/11 fiscal year which ended on June 30. Average daily volumes during the year fell to a nine-year low, analysts said.

In the currency market, the rupee ended flat at 85.93/98 to the dollar, unchanged from Thursday's close.

The interbank currency and money markets were closed on Friday for a bank holiday.

The rupee hit a record low of 86.50 in May, and dealers said the local unit is expected to stay largely stable in the medium term because of increased remittances from Pakistanis working abroad.

According to official data, remittances topped $10 billion for the first time, hitting $10.1 billion in the first 11 months of the 2010/11 fiscal year, an increase of 25.20 percent compared with the same period last year.

In the money market, overnight rates also ended flat at 13.15 percent, unchanged from Saturday's close and dealers expect rates to hover around current levels.

Copyright Reuters, 2011