December 28, 2002	Saturday	Shawwal 23, 1423

KARACHI, Dec 27: Khalid Mirza, chairman Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), congratulated the KSE on logging a new record in index and turnover and said that improved governance and greater transparency had contributed to the stock market rally.

According to a statement issued by the KSE, the KSE-100 index had hit an all-time high of 2,661.38 points on Friday on a record turnover of 632 million shares. That broke the previous record of 2,661.31 points of March 22, 1994 and the highest ever turnover of 618 million shares of December 26.

“This heartening rally testifies to the strong level of investors’ confidence, which stems from solid economic fundamentals and stellar corporate performance”, KSE managing director Moin M. Fudda was stated to have said.

The SECP chairman observed that the Commission had developed a well thought-out strategy for the development of the capital market in Pakistan. In discussing the market with Mr. Fudda, the SECP chairman said that he was pleased to see that all systematic measures of risk management, transparency and regulatory framework were in place and were contributing to the healthy growth of capital market.

Khalid Mirza was of the opinion that the upsurge was largely based on the regulatory framework, transparency and high dividend yields. “Last time when the market went up, it saw many systematic risks increasing its vulnerability”, SECP chief said adding that as for now the regulatory framework was in place, covering the systematic risk, having no blank selling, circuit breakers control and appropriate margin requirements. “The market upsurge points to investors’ confidence in the regulatory framework and level playing field for all”, Mirza was stated to have said.