KARACHI: The stock market after remaining a picture of complete chaos and confusion, picked up momentum and restarted upward march with benchmark KSE-100 index gained 94.24 points or 0.30 percent to reach 31,333 points in early trading on Friday.
The Karachi Stock Exchange opened at the overnight closing of 31239.04 points and 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.
