KARACHI: The finance ministry issued on Tuesday the notification about appointment of Salman Ali Sheikh as new Chairman of the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan here on Tuesday. Earlier, he was serving as Acting Chairman of the SECP. Talking to Geo News, the SECP chairman said that he would speed up his efforts for the improvement of SECP, Stock Exchange and corporate sectors.

(Bloomberg Report) MCB Bank Ltd., Pakistan’s biggest by market value, and Habib Bank Ltd. are competing to buy Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc’s local operations as the U.K. lender seeks to raise capital following a government takeover. MCB and Habib Bank, the second-largest, plan to apply to the central bank for approval to begin a due diligence review of RBS Pakistan, the lenders said in separate statements to the Karachi Stock Exchange today. The unit has a market value of 21.4 billion rupees ($266 million). The purchase would give the banks an edge in a nation that forecasts an economic revival starting in the next fiscal year. Pakistan’s economy may expand more than 6 percent annually on average over the next five years, Shaukat Tarin, adviser to the prime minister, said last month, as the nation seeks $6 billion in aid from countries including the U.S. and Japan. “Habib Bank would turn into the biggest by assets and deposits, while it is already the biggest by branches,” follow...

* No fresh take-up in CFS Mk-II shall be allowed from today ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has decided to discontinue CFS Mk-II and deliverable futures products in the best interests of the capital markets in Pakistan. This discontinuation measure will be effective from Wednesday (today). CFS Mk-II will be phased-out in three working cycles of 22 business days. Therefore, the complete phase-out will be completed in 66 working days. Starting from April 8, 2009, no fresh take-up in CFS Mk-II shall be allowed. Furthermore, no new contracts will be opened in the deliverable futures market from April 20, 2009. The commission shall coordinate with the stock exchanges to develop effective futures products in line with best international practices. The commission shall also strive to implement alternative financing products to cater for the financing and leveraging needs of market participants. During the recent market turmoil and afterwards, a majority nu...

KARACHI: Bulls continued to dominate the trading session at the Karachi stock market on the last trading day of the week Friday due to support from continuation of intense buying activities on economic fundamentals and US Senate’s confirmation of $4 billion increase in aid to Pakistan. The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index surged 241.79 points or 3.36 percent to close at 7,432.88 points as compared to 7,191.09 points traded in the previous session. The KSE 30-share index gained 261 points and closed at 8,064.16 points as compared with 7,803.16 points of the previous session. The KMI 30 index also increased by 324.27 points to close at 10,519.84 points as against 10,195.57 points of the previous session. The market turnover increased by 13.47 percent and traded 330.15 million shares as compared to previous session’s 290.94 million shares. The overall market capitalisation went up by 3.28 percent and closed at Rs 2.235 trillion as compared with Rs 2.164 trillion traded in the ...

KARACHI: Positive rally continued unabatedly at the Karachi stock market on Thursday due to support from intense buying activities as Pakistan achieved the International Monetary Fund (IMF) targets for net foreign assets and net domestic assets to get tranche of $847 million. Analysts said that the IMF intimation of economic recovery coupled with rise in international equity markets, foreign interest in the market and exchange rate stability were the reasons for the market’s recovery. The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index gained 259.19 points or 3.74 percent to close at 7,191.09 points as compared to 6,931.90 points traded in the previous session. The KSE 30-share index surged 337.91 points and closed at 7,803.16 points as compared with 7,465.25 points of the previous session. The KMI 30 index also increased by 433.32 points to close at 10,195.57 points as against 9,762.25 points of the previous session. The market turnover went up by 40.36 percent and traded 290.94 million ...

KARACHI: Aggressive buying at Karachi Stock Exchange on Friday pushed the benchmark KSE-100 Index by 219 points to 6,826. Today’s trade started in the green zone but kept on moving across the fence throughout the day. However, investors were seen taking positions in energy and banking stocks in the second session which took the major Index to the present level. The market turnover was recorded at 220 million shares. Bank Alfalah drew maximum activity which slipped paisas 18 to close at Rs14.92. KSE-30 Index surged by 253 points to finish the day at 7,375.

The Karachi stock market maintained its bullish sentiment on Wednesday, as expectations of cut in discount rates within the next couple of weeks and the meeting of friends of Pakistan on April 17, which is expected to attract foreign funds to stabilise the economy, boosted investors’ confidence. The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index gained of 57.20 points or 0.86 percent to close at 6,674.82 points as compared to 6,617.00 points traded in the previous session. The KSE 30-share index also increased by 70.59 points and closed at 7,234.40 points as compared with 7,163.81 points of the previous session. The KMI 30 index surged by 27.52 points to close at 9,225.54 points as against 9,198.02 points of the previous session. The market turnover decreased by 12.52 percent and traded 262.88 million shares as compared to 300.53 million shares traded in the previous session. The overall market capitalisation went up by 0.70 percent to close at Rs 2.005 trillion as compared with Rs 1.991...