KSE find its feet after Benazir death

Shares in Karachi stock market steadied in early trade on Wednesday as buyers came back into the market looking for bargains after a sell-off in the wake of martyrdom of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index held at around Tuesday’s close of 13,666.85 points, rising just 0.01 percent, or 1 point by 0500 GMT, with one dealer noting that law and order was returning to normal and that general elections looked likely to go ahead soon.

The free-float KSE-30 share index was down 0.17 percent at 16,137.54 points.

“Valuations now are very good for long-term investors as the index has fallen by a large amount due to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto,” said Sajid Bhanji, a dealer at Arif Habib Securities.

Last Thursday’s gun-and-bomb attack on Bhutto at an election-campaign rally triggered a wave of violent unrest across the country and threatened instability in Pakistan. The market has lost 7.5 percent since the assassination.

The Election Commission says it now favours a delay to the scheduled Jan. 8 poll date, saying several of its district offices were burnt down in the unrest. It is due to make its final decision later on Wednesday.

“If it’s in February or March, that will be taken positively by the market,” said Mohammed Sohail, director of equity broking and research at JS Global Capital. An indefinite delay would be “very negative”, he added.

Bhutto’s party, now led by her widower and teenaged son, can expect a large sympathy vote at the election and has said it opposes any delay.

Among the most active companies, Bosicor Pakistan fell 0.80 rupees to 19.50, Worldcall Telecom rose 0.05 rupees to 15.65 and JS Bank shed 0.90 rupees to 19.90.