Floor limits bring Karachi trade to halt

Karachi: Trade in shares on Pakistan's main stock exchange ground to a halt on Tuesday as investors lost all interest because of a floor on the index and also because of an expected increase in the key interest rate.

The Karachi Stock Exchange benchmark 100-share index ended unchanged from Monday at 9,183.14, 39 points above a floor that was imposed on August 28 after sharp losses.

No shares listed on the KSE index were traded for the first time ever. The index has lost nearly 35 per cent since the beginning of the year.

"The floor has taken away all interest from investors," said Shuja Rizvi, director of broking operations at Capital One Equities Ltd.

Exchange authorities have declined to say when the floor will be removed. A fund of Rs20 billion (Dh913 million) is being finalised to support share prices when the floor goes.

Four state-owned companies are expected to invest Rs5 billion each and the fund will be managed by National Investment Trust. An exchange official said last month the fund would invest in nine-state owned entities.