Stocks O/N Rates End Lower Rupee Flat

Pakistan stocks fell on Monday as traders booked profits from last week’s rally to a four-year high, dealers said.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index ended down 0.72 per cent, or 98.44 points, at 13,663.32 points.

The index closed at 13,761.76 on Friday, its highest since May 2008.

Volume fell to 147.84 million shares, compared with 413.94 million shares on Friday.

“After a gain of 4 per cent last week, investors preferred to book profits,” said Samar Iqbal, a dealer at Topline Securities.

Dewan Cement surged 17.5 per cent in the biggest volume of the day, while Lafarge Pakistan closed up 0.8 per cent.

“Dewan Cement and Lafarge Cement remained in the limelight as investors were hopeful that there will be a turnaround in their profits in 2012,” Iqbal said.

The rupee ended almost flat at 90.63/68 to the dollar, compared with Friday’s close of 90.61/66 to the dollar.

The rupee has been supported recently by remittances from overseas Pakistanis, which rose by nearly a quarter to $8.59 billion in the first eight months of the 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $6.96 billion in the 2010/11 period.

In February, remittances totaled $1.16 billion.

In the money market, overnight rates fell to 9.10 per cent, compared to Friday’s close of 11.90 per cent amid increased liquidity in the inter-bank market.

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