KARACHI: The Karachi Stock Exchange has been in the news for the last five years amid unprecedented price flare-ups and massive crashes but still remained the best performing market in the world owing to an attractive rate of return on investment, higher corporate earnings and a robust economy.

“After having battered its previous all-time peak level of 12,273 points on April 17, 2007 the KSE 100-share index is now confidentally heading to its new target of 14,000 points on the strength of foreign and local buying and an attractive bait of sell-off of some leading state-owned units, notably Pakistan State Oil (PSO), analyst Faisal Abbas said.

Much water has already flown under the bridge but skeptics are still wandering and mulling whether or not the current boom and price flare-up is genuine or speculative.

“Analysts at the Morgan Stanley may not be saints but they have a fair idea based on their data about the market trends around the globe,” says a leading stock analyst Zia Javed. “The current heating of the corporate scenario, an attractive dividend yields, 300 to 500 per cent increase in prices on some counters and 24pc growth in the index during the first quarter of the current year reinforces their perception about the future index level.”

The march to hereto elusive goal of 14,000 index level has just started as no one is inclined to miss to ride the bandwagon driven by the strong foreign buying despite the fact the memories of the previous market plunges still haunts some of the investors, although there is no fundamental change in the market morale boosters.

During the last five years, the KSE 100-share index was at its career lowest level at 811.30 in July 2003 (base 1,000 points) on selling triggered by Badla problems and negative news from the political front.