The Karachi Stock Exchange has sought further time from Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan to remove the floor placed under equity prices. The SECP had asked all three stock exchanges of the country on Thursday to remove the floor on Monday, December 15. Sources said the KSE had communicated to the SECP that without resolving the problem of outstanding CFS positions of close to Rs 11 billion, removing the floor would cause many brokers to default. However, the SECP did not respond positively to the request. On the other hand, the NCCPL has also turned down the request of KSE for rolling over of the CFS positions for ninety days. The KSE board of directors had requested the NCCPL to roll over the Rs 11 billion outstanding positions in CFS. According to a notification issued by the KSE, the floor will be removed by December 15, 2005, Monday, with normal trading parameters including application of standard up-side and down-side 5 percent circuit breakers rule in place. All thr...

The Securities and Exchange Commission has told stock markets to remove the floors placed on their indices from December 15, more than three months after they were initially imposed to restore confidence in a market battered by political upheaval. “The continuing restriction on the trade prices of the securities has adversely affected the ability of the market participants to manage their respective investments,” the regulating authority said in a statement on Thursday. “Despite best efforts, the market support fund, and other instruments like ‘put option’ could not be brought into operations so as to provide a soft landing,” it said, adding it found no reasons for the restrictions to continue. The regulator has also barred the exchanges and their boards from closing the bourses, restricting prices of securities, or interfering in the normal operations of the exchanges for 90 days. “It is in the public interest to allow the securities markets to function without any hindrance in order ...

The SECP and stock market’s guns are silent for now since chairman of the apex regulatory body left Saturday’s (Dec 06) meeting inconclusive with his last words on record that he would himself issue directives on floor in a day or two. “No communication has been built so far from both sides of the fence i.e. (1) Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SEC), and (2) the officials of local bourses, and none of them tried to approach each others on the issue of floor,” officials of two sides verified. SECP officials, however, endorsed that directives to end the floor-price rule on Dec 15 would be sent to the three local bourses last by Friday, Dec 12. “The SECP does not work on government holidays and the issuance of directive would not be delayed beyond Dec 12,” they reiterated.The staff of the Commission would resume office on coming Thursday, Dec 11, after celebrating Eid, it was learnt.“Local bourses i.e. Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad do not have powers more than the apex re...

The last day of business activity on Friday, volume again remained modest and business activities in KSE remained unimpressive, dull and flat throughout the day and kept limited and dry ahead of Eid holidays while modest trading put the market survival hopes dashed whereas benchmark KSE 100-index witnessing no change closed at 9,187.10 points. The market capitalization was eroded by Rs 466 million to Rs 2.817 trillion.According to Chairman SCEP Raizur Rehman, it has been decided to remove floor mechanism from KSE while measures are being taken to control the risk of the market.Analysts and brokers are of the view that trading volume dipped again on lack of interest among investors ahead of Eid holidaysHaydery Construct was remained leader volumewise on Friday trading while in KSE business, four scrips recorded gains, four sustained losses and five remained unchanged out of a total of only 13 companies.Hayderi Construction scrip led the market with a turnover of 10,000 shares.

Pakistan is likely to be removed from the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) emerging markets index if the floor at the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) remains intact.Such a development could limit the ability of institutional investors to invest in Pakistan, government argued in a request placed with International Monetary Fund, which approved $7.6 billion standby arrangement, to remove the floor at the stock markets. Country's stock market is currently under floor and now the authorities are mulling over various options to resume the normal trading following the IMF' opposition to give the support fund to the market from the taxpayers' money."Such a decision could lead to significant portfolio outflows, consequently putting the pressures on the reserves position," government contends. The authorities also indicated that they were considering supporting the market through: a fund to be established by four state-owned financial institutions (with borrowing g...

YEAR DELISTED COMPANIES DATE OF DELISTING PAID UP CAPITAL 2008 Fayzan Manufacturing Modaraba *** 25/01/2008 900.000 Kashmir Edible Oils Limited *** 31/03/2008 80.000 * Delisted after completing formalities of buy back of shares.** Pursuant to the conversion of a Close-end Mutual Fund into an Open-end Mutual Fund*** Members' Voluntary Winding Up YEAR DELISTED COMPANIES DATE OF DELISTING PAID UP CAPITAL 2007 Dawood Fibre Mills limited * 12/02/2007 119.430 Haroon Oils Limited * 19/03/2007 8.000 Ahmed Spinning Mills Limited * 18/06/2007 4.000 AKD Index Tracker Fund ** 02/07/2007 750.000 Sarhad Cigarette Industries Limited * 06-08-2007 6.000 Noon Textile Mills Limited * 01-11-2007 20.000 * Delisted after completing formalities of buy back of shares.** Pursuant to the conversion of a Close-end Mutual Fund into an Open-end Mutual Fund YEAR DELISTED COMPANIES DATE OF DELISTING PAID UP CAPITAL 2006 Tobacco Internation Limited * 27/08/2006 8.000 Associated Industries Limited * 10/10/2006 9.6...

On a September evening when many of Pakistan’s 165 million people were breaking their fast during the holy month of Ramadan, billionaire Mian Mohammad Mansha, the country’s richest man, was deciding whether to buy an Indonesian bank.A phone call to his Lahore office interrupted him: Turn on the television, his son Hassan implored. The Marriott Hotel in Islamabad was in flames after terrorists had detonated a truck packed with explosives. The blast, in a security zone less than a kilometer from the presidential residence, killed 53 and injured 266. “It was terrifying,” says Mansha, 61, chairman of the Nishat Group financial, textile and cement-making empire, who says he stays at the Marriott when he’s in the capital. Just hours before the blast, Asif Ali Zardari, had vowed to rid the country of the “cancer” of terrorism. As Pakistan battles extremist-inspired violence and its worst economic crisis in a decade, Mansha says he’s keeping Nishat Group’s expansion on track.At home, where hi...