ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's main stock market closed almost flat in thin volume on Tuesday, with many investors cautious about taking big positions while a court case that could jeopardise the country's prime minister remains unresolved, dealers said.
The Karachi Stock Exchange benchmark 100-share index lost 15.18 points, or 0.1 per cent, to close at 14,512.07 on volume of 34.17 million shares.
“The market once again (was) lacklustre in the absence of any positive news. Volumes remained low and shares prices moved in a narrow band ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on July 25,” said Samar Iqbal, a dealer at Topline Securities.
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has been ordered to re-open corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari and provide evidence of having done so by July 25, or face the threat of disqualification, a move which would further discredit a widely scorned government.
Ashraf's predecessor Yusuf Raza Gilani was disqualified last month by the Supreme Court for failing to re-open the cases.
In the currency market, the rupee strengthened slightly to close at 94.43/49 against the dollar, compared with Friday's close of 94.50/55 on Friday. Monday was a bank holiday in Pakistan.
Overnight rates in the money market remained unchanged at 11.90 per cent.