U.S. Stock Futures Advance on IMF Lending Plan

U.S. stock futures advanced, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will climb for a second straight day, as Goldman Sachs (GS) Group Inc. reported earnings that exceeded analysts’ projections.

Goldman Sachs, the fifth-biggest U.S. bank by assets, added 2.3 percent as the company cut costs in response to falling revenue. Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) rallied 3.4 percent as Jerry Yang’s exit may remove a barrier to find a buyer or negotiate a sale of stakes in Asian assets worth more than $10 billion.

S&P 500 futures expiring in March added 0.3 percent to 1,293.30 as of 7:54 a.m. New York time. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 31 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,451.

Stock market closes 6 points up on expectation of positive Pak-IMF talks

Karachi stock market continued to remain under the bullish spell during the outgoing week mainly on developments in US-Pak bilateral relationships, agreements on counter terrorism with US Senator Kerry and expectation of positive outcome for Pak-IMF talks on economic development and federal budget for release of next tranche of $1.7 billion which played a catalyst role in bullish sentiment this week.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index gained 6.03 points or 5.03 percent to close at 11,973.38 points, as compared to 11,967.35 points at the close of previous week. The market turnover went down by 21.66 percent and closed at 44.37 million shares compared to 56.64 million shares of the previous week.

KSE volume plunges as IMF tranche remains elusive

Trading volume at the Karachi stock market plunged on Wednesday as investors realised that Pakistan remains far from getting its last loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), traders said.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) saw trading in just 36.7 million shares, sharply down from 63 million a day earlier. The benchmark KSE 100-share index dropped 45.63 points to 11,884.61

From: The News

KSE fall on worries over aid after bin Laden’s death

Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) fell as much as 2.6 percent Wednesday on concerns that the killing of Osama bin Laden this week could lead to a delay in international aid, dealers said.

KSE benchmark 100-share index was 2.05 percent, or 244.65 points, lower at 11712.25 on turnover of 58 million shares in afternoon trade.

The KSE-index has lost 2.8 percent since the killing of bin Laden. The index gained about 28 percent in 2010.

“There is concern that there may be delay of aid, especially from the IMF (International Monetary Fund) after news that visits of all missions have been cancelled,” said Sajid Bhanji, director at brokers Arif Habib Ltd.

Assessment of liquidity in stock market: Shaukat summons adviser, SBP governor

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has summoned his Adviser on Finance Dr Salman Shah and State Bank Governor Dr Ishrat Husain to assess the placement of liquidity in the stock market for phasing out of COT (badla) with margin financing. At present, Salman and Ishrat are in the US to attend International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings. They are scheduled to return on April 25. Now they would report in Islamabad directly.