The Karachi stock market remained dormant on the first trading of the week Monday amid concerns among investors over lack of liquidity to fund the market, Pak-India relations and 48-hour alert given by the security agencies in Pakistan, analysts said.The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index remained unchanged at 9,187.10 points. The KSE 30 index and KMI 30 index also remained at 9,981.93 points and 11,224.18 points respectively. The market turnover gained 175.67 percent and traded 0.102 million shares as compared to 0.037 million shares traded in the previous session. The overall market capitalisation remained unchanged at Rs 2.820 trillion. Out of 11 companies, two closed in the positive zone, one in negative while eight remained unchanged. Analysts said investors remained concerned over prevailing negative sentiments in the market and expected foreign selling due to law and order situation in the country.They said with Indian blaming Pakistan over the Mumbai incident and heig...

The government has forwarded a proposal regarding the removal of floor at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has reportedly opposed the removal of floor or injection of funds in the stock market.According to reliable sources, the Ministry of Finance forwarded the proposal - the one submitted to the government for the floor removal by the KSE authorities - to IMF. The proposal spells out the strategy that could bring the trading at market to normalcy, which has been suspended for more than three months to save the market from disaster."What are the reservations of IMF over the removal of market floor and the stabilisation fund are still unknown and the government officials are still to share this information with the board of the exchange, which has been kept in dark so far by the authorities," a director of the board told Daily Times. Sources said that IMF would take the decision in December and in case of a favorable outcome, the flo...

Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has launched Vehicle Identification System (VIS) for their valued customers particularly users of pre-paid cards. The VIS is the state of the art system that provides full automation by identifying and recognising the vehicle in which the fuel needs to be dispensed. Vehicle is recognised before delivery of the product by using a special device. According to details revealed during the launch ceremony, a smart tag is installed in the fuel tank of the vehicle, while the sensor or the reader is placed in the nozzle of the dispensing unit. As soon as the nozzle is placed in the fuel tank of the vehicle it senses and recognises the vehicle and allows the dispensing unit to start the filling operation. staff report

The government is holding the stock market hostage as it announces no firm date of re-opening of the market, nor is there a glimmer of hope about the promised stabilisation funds. Brokers, traders and investors waited wearily on Thursday, as the closure of the KSE entered its fourth month—the longest peacetime shutdown of any equity market in the world.There are numerous parties that have contributed to the stock market chaos. The off-market trade is indicative of the dip in investors’ confidence. But that is just the surface; the undercurrents are scary.Most knowledgeable quarters now lay the blame for an ongoing stalemate squarely at the door of the government.“The situation is now out of control of regulators,” contends one major participant.He explains that it was wrong of the KSE to have done so—and the advisor on finance to the PM, Shaukat Tarin—after taking office did the first thing to express his displeasure at putting the ‘floor’ under the KSE-100 index. But following the mee...

The Karachi stock market continued to remain in the lethargic zone amid continuation of depressed activities as investors remained concerned over the fate of the market’s bailout funds after IMF and Adviser to PM on Finance Shaukat Tareen hinted that the government’s funds would not be used to bailout the market, analysts said. The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index remained unchanged at 9,187.10 points. The KSE 30 index and KMI 30 index also remained at 9,981.93 points and 11,224.18 points respectively. The market turnover gained 6.81 percent and traded 0.47 million shares as compared to 0.44 million shares traded in the previous session. The overall market capitalisation declined 0.21 to Rs 2.820 trillion as compared to Rs 2.826 trillion traded in the previous session. Out of seven companies, three closed in the negative while four remained unchanged. Like previous sessions, futures market continued to remain static as no activity was witnessed during the session. Analysts ...

The Karachi stock market witnessed a low turnover once again on Thursday with the absence of positive sentiments that drive the activities of share trading, analysts and brokers said.The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index remained unchanged for the fourth consecutive trading session at 9,184.09 points. The KSE 30 index and KMI 30 index also remained fixed at 9,981.93 points and 10,003.99 points respectively. The turnover dipped 40 percent and traded 0.109 million shares as compared to 0.182 million shares traded in the previous session. The overall market capitalisation remained unchanged at Rs 2.826 trillion. Out of 13 companies, four closed in the positive zone, one in negative while seven remained unchanged. Analysts said that it is expected that the unjustified freezing would be lifted on December 1 and the market bailout fund of Rs 50 billion would attract foreign investors back to the arena, but it is uncertain whether they would opt for buying or selling. Chances are ...

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday arrested at least three persons for printing and selling out fake share certificates worth millions of rupees in the stock market. According to sources the FIA recovered fake share certificates (both filled and blank) worth over Rs 37 million from the custody of Niaz Ahmed Rind, Shehzad and Rehan from Pakistan Chawk in a raid led by Inspector Gulsher Mugheri.They said a special team of FIA's Crimes Circle at around 4 pm raided an office, "Shah Graphics", and a printing press, "Rehan Prints", and recovered fake share certificates worth Rs 24 million and Rs 13 million which were ready to be issued to Norrie Textile Mills Limited (NTML) and SS Oil Mills Limited (SSOML) respectively. The sources said the FIA team on the directives of Director Crimes Circle Mir Zubair and Deputy Director Khalique-uz-Zaman arrested Rind, a share dealer, and recovered fake share certificates of Rs 13 million from his possession.The law e...