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Karachi: Pakistan's benchmark stock index rose after opposition leaders Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif forged an alliance to press for fair elections. Oil & Gas Development Co, the nation's biggest explorer of fuels, led gains.
The Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index rose 111.42, or 0.8 per cent, to 14,037.01. Oil & Gas rose Rs1.90, or 1.6 per cent, to Rs122.30.
"The market is positive and investors seem to be at ease with the political situation as elections approach," said Atif Malik, research analyst at JS Global Capital Ltd, in Karachi.
Sharif and Bhutto may boycott parliamentary elections unless President Pervez Musharraf agrees to meet their demand for a fair ballot, the two leaders said.
Sharif met Bhutto in Islamabad to try to persuade her to join a boycott of general elections in January to protest Musharraf's state of emergency restrictions. Musharraf said last week he will lift emergency rule on December 16 and called on all parties to take part in the ballot.
United Bank, Pakistan's third-largest lender by assets, rose Rs3.65 or 2.1 per cent, to Rs181.15. Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan, the largest foreign bank in the, fell Rs1.20, or 2.4 per cent, to Rs48.80.
Mumbai (Reuters) Indian shares snapped a three-day winning streak to end 0.4 per cent lower yesterday as investors locked in gains in frontline stocks, with renewed concerns about the health of the US economy weighing on world markets.
The benchmark 30-share BSE index fell 0.38 per cent, or 73.91 points, to 19,529.50, after rising as much as 0.53 per cent in early deals.
Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank led the fall. But mid- and small-cap stocks were in the limelight as investors shifted their focus to less fancied stocks that were cheaper in comparison to index-linked shares.
The BSE mid-cap index ended 1.6 per cent up, while the small-cap index gained 1.58 per cent.
"Large-caps were under pressure because of the global markets. Some profit-taking happened in stocks like Reliance after they rose for three days," said KK Mital, a fund manager at Escorts Mutual Fund.
The benchmark BSE index climbed 1.2 per cent on Monday to its highest close in two weeks, following Friday's 1.9 per cent rise.
"There has to be a pause before they start again," Mital said.
Investors were also awaiting a possible US rate cut when the Federal Reserve meets on December 11.
"I would say the trend is currently sideways to up. The litmus test for the market will be near the 6,000 level," said Viral Doshi, an independent market strategist, referring to the broader NSE index that slipped 0.11 per cent to 5,858.35.
Foreign funds
Foreign funds poured more than $7 billion into Indian equities between mid-September and end-October, after a Fed rate cut on September 18. But they were net sellers of about $1.2 billion in November.
"Any change in US interest rates would [positively] impact all emerging markets and India," Mital said.
"This being the year-end we have seen some slow down, but I don't think allocation will be an issue for the Indian market as there are many funds dedicated to emerging markets."
Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank, which account for more than a quarter of the main BSE index, were hit by unwinding of positions. Reliance lost 2.3 per cent to Rs2,863.85, while ICICI dropped 2.1 per cent to Rs1,140.40.
But shares in Tata Steel, the world's sixth-largest steel maker, rose 4.1 per cent to Rs872.95 after the chief of its Corus unit said the firm was planning to lift prices next year.
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