ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s main stock market closed lower on Thursday amid fresh political uncertainty ahead of a vote to elect a new prime minister due on Friday.
The Karachi Stock Exchange benchmark 100-share index ended down 0.49 per cent, or 66.58 points, at 13,600.60 points on volume of 44.86 million shares.
“Investors remained on the sidelines as uncertainty prevailed on the political front. Subdued sentiment in the regional stocks market and international commodity markets also dampened sentiment in the market,” said Mohammad Rizwan, a dealer at Topline Securities.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declared Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ineligible for office for refusing to re-open corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, triggering a new crisis in the nuclear-armed country.
In the currency market, the rupee weakened to close at 94.36/41 to the dollar, compared to 94.21/26 on Wednesday. Overnight rates in the money market closed unchanged at 11.90 per cent.
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