KARACHI: The Karachi Stock Exchange shrugged off the gloomy of previous two days and set its pace for the upward march, picking up 226.32 points or 0.72 percent as the benchmark KSE-100 index climbed up to reach 31,465.36 points till midday trading on Friday.
The Karachi Stock Exchange opened on a positive note and set off on the recourse to remedy the losses it had suffered over the past two day. The trading began at the overnight closing of 31239.04 points and the stock appeared positive, showing signs of recovery, although it is last day of the trading week. The market, after crossing all-time high of 32,000 points level, plummet over the past two days, leaving the investors high and dry.
The reason for the panic and bearish trend is attributed to a figure misquoted by a section of the print media which suggested that in a meeting with the State Bank on Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) mentioned “Rs13.4 billion as cash of the clients held by the suspended brokerage KASB Securities Limited (KSL)”.
This sent shivers down the spines as the huge amount had the propensity to pull the entire market down to the pit.
Efforts by brokers and other participants to assuage investors’ fears and calm the market proved futile.
The SECP played its proactive role as its Commissioner for Securities Market Division (SMD) Zafar Abdullah rushed in to hold meetings with the stakeholders.
Experts are hopeful that the market would remain positive.