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KARACHI: Pakistani stocks ended higher on Thursday, led by the Oil and Gas Co. Ltd. (OGDCL), but trade remained thin on the last day of the 2010/11 financial year.
The Karachi Stock Exchange's benchmark 100-share index ended 0.59 per cent, or 72.73 points, higher at 12,496.03 on turnover of 65.92 million shares.
“To me, it was a disappointing last day of the fiscal year, and there is not much to talk about except OGDCL, which is the main reason for the higher closing of the index,” said Ashraf Zakaria, a dealer at brokers Ali Hussain Rajabali and Co.
Shares in OGDCL, the country's largest listed company, ended 2.79 per cent higher at 153 rupees.
“Personally I had a small ray of hope that some announcement on the capital gains tax (CGT) will be made before the year-end, but probably I was being too optimistic,” he said.
A report by brokers Topline Securities issued on Wednesday said trade throughout the year was hurt by security concerns, economic slowdown and higher interest rates, as well as the re-introduction of the CGT after a gap of more than three decades.
This resulted in the yearly average volume falling to a nine-year low in 2010/11, it said.
The government confounded market expectations by retaining the CGT in the 2011/12 budget, announced on June 3.
A 10 per cent capital gains tax is imposed on stocks held for six months or less, and a 7.5 per cent tax is levied on stocks held between six months to a year.
In the currency market, the rupee ended slightly firmer at 85.93/98 to the dollar, up from the previous day's close of 86.02/07 as dollar supplies outmatched its demand from importers.
The rupee hit a record low of 86.50 last month, and dealers said the local unit is expected to stay largely stable in the medium term because of increased remittances from Pakistanis working abroad.
According to official data, remittances topped $10 billion for the first time, hitting $10.1 billion in the first 11 months of the 2010/11 fiscal year, an increase of 25.20 per cent compared with the same period last year.
In the money market, overnight rates ended at 13.0-13.9 per cent, up from the close of 11 per cent on Wednesday.
