Pakistani stocks end down; rupee weakens

Friday, October 30, 2009
KARACHI, Oct 29 - Pakistani stocks ended lower on Thursday as investors sold shares following a car bomb that killed over 100 people in a crowded market in the city of Peshawar the previous day.
The Karachi Stock Exchange's benchmark 100-share index <.KCE> ended 0.90 percent, or 82.84 points, lower at 9,169.00 on turnover of 172.94 million shares.
The KSE-index has gained 56.33 percent this year after losing 58.33 percent last year.
'From the start of the trading session, the market was under pressure due to the bombing incident in Peshawar,' said Furqan Punjani, an analyst at Topline Securities.
Wednesday's bomb was the latest urban attack since the army launched a major assault on rural Taliban strongholds two weeks ago, and the deadliest since 2007. [ID:nSP103769]
Dealers said the market's fundamentals were strong but investors were on the sidelines due to the country's worsening security situation.
Pakistan's GDP growth is expected to be between 2.5 and 3.5 percent in the fiscal year 2009/10, from 2.0 percent in the previous year, the central bank said in its annual report released on Thursday. [ID:nSIN368564]
'A gradual recovery is underway,' the State Bank of Pakistan said in its annual report.
In the currency market, the rupee <PKR=> ended at its weakest level this year at 83.63/70 to the dollar compared with Wednesday's close of 83.54/59 due to the rising violence as well as import payments.
Dealers expect pressure from importers will further weaken the currency.
The rupee has weakened 5.42 percent this year after losing 22.12 percent last year.
The International Monetary Fund approved a $7.6 billion emergency package for Pakistan last November to avert a balance of payments crisis.
The loan was increased to $11.3 billion in July.
Pakistan officials are due to meet IMF officials in Dubai from Nov. 2 to Nov. 12 for a third review of Pakistan's economic performance. (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/afghanistanpakistan)