Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) witnessed fresh buying worth $235 million by foreign investors during the first quarterly in the current fiscal year. According to statistics issued by National Clearing and Settlement Company, scrips worth $123 million were sold by the foreign investors during the first quarter last year at Karachi stock market. According to world analysts, the Pakistani stock market stands out in comparison with Asian countries; while, the prices of companies’ scrips stand at 50 percent discount which acts as catalyst for the foreign investors.

Foreign portfolio investment at Karachi Stock Exchange and upgradation of Pakistan’s credit rating by international agencies pushed the benchmark KSE-100 Index beyond the psychological barrier of 9000 level for the first time in the last nine months. The trade began this week at the stock market with positive momentum which gained further strength towards the end of the week. The major Index closed this week with a huge gain of 462 points at 9003. The discovery of new oil reserves in the country and investment by foreigners fueled major investment in energy and banking stocks. The average volume stood at 240 million shares this week. KSE-30 Index surged by 464 points to finish the week at 8651.

Foreign players made a net investment of $45.285 million at the Karachi Stock exchange in just two sessions (Monday and Tuesday), according to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Ltd. Only on Tuesday, offshore investors invested $21.3 million (gross buy of $24.9 million and gross sell of $3.6 million). Moreover, total investment made by foreign players on Monday dramatically inched up to $23.99m (gross buy of $26.5m and gross sell of $2.5m). This foreign interest in the local stock market has changed the market’s direction and index is travelling towards sky while benchmark gained over 450 points in last three sessions. Most of the market experts are of the view that the current foreign interest in the equity market is due to the availability of attractive low-priced stocks. Shahid Ali at HMFS expressed that, “it would be unfair to say that Monday’s and Tuesday’s bullish momentum can be attributed to foreign investors who invested around $24 million only on Tuesday. We need to gi...

Foreign investors have invested $ 59.324 million in the stock market during August 2009, SBP report said here Saturday. According to a daily position of SBP’s Special Convertible Rupee Account (SCRA), the inflow of foreign investment was $ 93.905 till August 28, 2009 while the outflow was $ 34.581 million. Major investment came from USA and UK, followed by Luxembourg and Hong Kong. On August 28, 2009, the net inflow was $ 5.999 million, as inflow was $ 6.987 million while out flow stood at $ 0.988 million. Meanwhile, the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) has extended the suspension period of eight companies for another 60 days for not removing the cause of suspension. According to KSE, the action has been taken to protect the interest of trade and public. They are Prudential Investment Bank Ltd, Schon Modaraba, Harum Textile Mills, Southern Networks Ltd, Carvan East Fabrics, Baig Spinning Mills Ltd, Tri Star Shipping Lines and National Fibre Ltd. The KSE management will remove the suspensi...