By Khalid Qayum
Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- National Investment Trust, Pakistan’s biggest money manager, bought stocks for the first time from a 20 billion rupee ($250 million) fund announced this month to stabilize the market after a 58 percent slump last year.
“We bought shares for the first time today and will continue to buy at good rates and values,” Tariq Iqbal Khan, chairman of the state-owned National Investment, said in a telephone interview from Karachi today.
Pakistan shares fell for 13 consecutive sessions starting Dec. 15 when the stock exchange ended a trading curb that had prevented the benchmark index from falling below its Aug. 27 level of 9,144.93 points. The drop in the benchmark index last year was the first annual decline in seven years.
Pakistan’s benchmark Karachi 100 Index rose 0.3 percent to 6059.09 at the 3:30 p.m. local-time close. The gauge fell 1.7 percent yesterday after a 6.8 percent increase in the previous four sessions after National Investment said it would buy shares.
National Investment Trust said on Jan. 2 it planned to buy shares in eight companies through the so-called State Enterprise Fund. National Bank of Pakistan, the country’s biggest lender by assets, Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution and State Life Corp. of Pakistan are among investors in the fund.
Oil & Gas Development Co., Pakistan’s biggest explorer and among the eight companies the fund is investing in, rose 2.4 percent to 53.75 rupees.
Rocked by Protests
The stock market was rocked by protests last year as police surrounded Pakistan’s biggest bourse to quell violence by investors angry over the price curbs. Authorities were seeking to avoid a repeat of July, when hundreds of investors stoned the exchange and shouted anti-government slogans.
The exchange still has a 5 percent daily trading limit for its key measure, a restriction that existed before Aug. 27.
The stock market’s gain this year follows a $7.6 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund to help restore investor confidence and allow the nation to keep servicing its foreign debt. The country was forced to seek IMF aid after its foreign-exchange reserves shrank 75 percent and a group of donor countries declined to provide funds.
Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- National Investment Trust, Pakistan’s biggest money manager, bought stocks for the first time from a 20 billion rupee ($250 million) fund announced this month to stabilize the market after a 58 percent slump last year.
“We bought shares for the first time today and will continue to buy at good rates and values,” Tariq Iqbal Khan, chairman of the state-owned National Investment, said in a telephone interview from Karachi today.
Pakistan shares fell for 13 consecutive sessions starting Dec. 15 when the stock exchange ended a trading curb that had prevented the benchmark index from falling below its Aug. 27 level of 9,144.93 points. The drop in the benchmark index last year was the first annual decline in seven years.
Pakistan’s benchmark Karachi 100 Index rose 0.3 percent to 6059.09 at the 3:30 p.m. local-time close. The gauge fell 1.7 percent yesterday after a 6.8 percent increase in the previous four sessions after National Investment said it would buy shares.
National Investment Trust said on Jan. 2 it planned to buy shares in eight companies through the so-called State Enterprise Fund. National Bank of Pakistan, the country’s biggest lender by assets, Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution and State Life Corp. of Pakistan are among investors in the fund.
Oil & Gas Development Co., Pakistan’s biggest explorer and among the eight companies the fund is investing in, rose 2.4 percent to 53.75 rupees.
Rocked by Protests
The stock market was rocked by protests last year as police surrounded Pakistan’s biggest bourse to quell violence by investors angry over the price curbs. Authorities were seeking to avoid a repeat of July, when hundreds of investors stoned the exchange and shouted anti-government slogans.
The exchange still has a 5 percent daily trading limit for its key measure, a restriction that existed before Aug. 27.
The stock market’s gain this year follows a $7.6 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund to help restore investor confidence and allow the nation to keep servicing its foreign debt. The country was forced to seek IMF aid after its foreign-exchange reserves shrank 75 percent and a group of donor countries declined to provide funds.
Comments