KSE 100-index ends 0.14 points higher

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KARACHI: The Karachi Stock Exchange's (KSE) benchmark 100-share index on Monday ended 0.14 points higher at 12,045.38 points. Turnover was 77 million shares compared with 67.05 million on Friday.

Stocks ended flat despite the implementation of a margin trading system on March 14, as investors showed caution after a global sell-off that followed Japan's devastating earthquake, dealers said.

"Bearish activity was witnessed on limited institutional and foreign interest, after uncertainty caused by the disaster in Japan and geopolitical concerns in Libya," said Ahsan Mehanti, director at Arif Habib Investments Ltd.

Japan's Nikkei stock average fell more than 6percent.

In the currency market, the rupee ended at 85.49/54to the dollar, compared with Friday's close of 85.33/39, because of a rise in import payments, but dealers said it was likely to steady in the coming days because of remittances.

Remittances rose by 20 percent to $6.96 billion in the first eight months of the 2010/11 fiscal year, compared to the same period the previous year.

In the money market, overnight rates fell to between 13percent and 13.50 percent, compared with Saturday's close of13.90, after the State Bank of Pakistan bought government paper worth 23 billion rupees ($269 million) to inject liquidity into the interbank market. (Reuters)