Pakistan's Stocks Jump Most in a Year: World's Biggest Mover

By Farhan Sharif

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan stocks surged the most in a year after the Supreme Court ruled that President Pervez Musharraf will be able to seek a second five-year term in an Oct. 6 election. Oil & Gas Development Co., the nation's largest company by market value, led the advance.

The Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index rose 384.06, or 2.9 percent, to close at 13,737.74, its highest since Aug. 3. That's the biggest gain since August 2006 and the largest fluctuation among markets included in global benchmarks.

``The rally was to be expected after the court decision,'' said Abdul Azeem, an analyst at Invest Capital & Securities Ltd., in Karachi. ``There is a perception in the market that Musharraf's re-election will be good for the economy.''

Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled Musharraf eligible to seek re-election, clearing the way for a key U.S. ally to extend his eight-year-old rule. Petitions challenging Musharraf's plan to seek a second term while keeping his post of army chief were dismissed on Sept. 28., according to a ruling read out in the court by Rana Bhagwandas, the nation's second most senior judge.

A total of 236 lawmakers from the All Parties Democratic Movement will resign from the national parliament and the four provincial assemblies tomorrow to protest Musharraf standing, Siddique-ul-Farooq, a spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz, a member of the alliance, said by telephone late yesterday.

`Comfortable Majority'

Musharraf has a ``comfortable majority'' among lawmakers to win a new term, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, said yesterday, according to a government statement in Islamabad. Pakistan's national and provincial assemblies choose the president.

Oil & Gas Development Co. Ltd., the nation's biggest energy explorer, rose 3.04 percent to 118.50 rupees. National Bank of Pakistan, the nation's biggest lender by assets, rose 5 percent to 256.20 rupees. MCB Bank Ltd., Pakistan's biggest lender by market value, rose 5 percent to 349.65 rupees.

Pakistan Petroleum Ltd., the nation's biggest natural gas producer, rose 2.3 percent to 272.10 rupees. United Bank Ltd., Pakistan's third-largest lender, rose 5 percent to 188.45 rupees. Pakistan Telecommunication Co., the nation's biggest telephone service provider, rose 2.9 percent to 54 rupees. Pakistan Oilfields Ltd., the nation's third-largest energy explorer, rose 4.4 percent to 322.95 rupees.

To contact the reporter on this story: Farhan Sharif in Karachi at fsharif2@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: October 1, 2007 05:33 EDT







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Great news. Hope kse breaks the record in 1 week.

Is this nessacerily a good thing?

I mean an increase in share prices is always a positive, but they fluctuate with every swing of the political pendulum, that's just not stable. What does it signal for a sudden post Musharraf Pakistan?!

The surge shows that business sees Musharaf as a symbol for stability. Of course one must realize that the KSE is prone to speculation and insider trading.

Well I hope Musharraf stays president, because if there is a corrupt president in his place then pakistan economy will be destroyed.


Here is another good news for u and fellow pakistanis.
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Pakistan's economy fast growing: Shaukat

ISLAMABAD (October 01 2007): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the successful implementation of wide ranging structural reforms and supportive macroeconomic policies have transformed Pakistan's economy into a stable and resurgent one. It was because of the policies and reforms, he said, Pakistan's economy has become one of the fast growing economies in Asia.

The Prime Minister was talking to a delegation of British Telecom and Saigol Group, who called on him and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Sunday.

While referring to economic growth in Pakistan, the Prime Minister said that because of a reform agenda based on deregulation, liberalisation and privatisation, Pakistan has attracted record amount of foreign investment of US $8.4 billion in 2006-07. He said the economy of the country is growing at an impressive rate of 6-8 percent per year, the middle class is expanding and poverty as well as unemployment is reducing.

The Prime Minister said structural reforms in many sectors including banking, capital markets, energy, power and telecom have attracted investment, created jobs and provided better quality services. Pakistan's attractive demographics with 60 percent young population is a very attractive feature for the long term investors, he added. Out of the total population of 160 million, he said, 100 million people are below the age of 25 thus creating future economic activity and opportunity.

Shaukat Aziz said that after having gained economic strength the government is now in a position to transfer the benefits of economic growth to the people and as a result there has been a visible improvement in the living standards of the people. He said per capita income has been doubled and all human development indicators are positive.

While referring to the progress made in telecommunication sector, the Prime Minister said Pakistan has become a hub of activity for international and local telecom companies and unprecedented amount of foreign investment flowed into the sector due the well thought out telecom policy, which was prepared after intensive discussions and debates involving all stakeholders.

He said telecom is one of the fastest growing sectors of the country where combined teledensity has increased from 4 percent to about 44 percent of the population. The number of subscribers has increased form 8 million in 2003 to over 62 million in 2007 and the market has the potential to reach 80 million in the next couple of years, he added.

He further said that the telecom sector has become a major employer of skilled jobs as its exponential growth has resulted in creation of 80,000 jobs directly and 500,000 jobs indirectly.

Shaukat Aziz while appreciating the signing of MoU between British Telecom and Siagols (Pvt) Ltd, said that this will bring international expertise to the country and capitalise on various opportunities in the field of media comprising television, radio and internet/satellite services in Pakistan.

The Prime Minister also appreciated the contribution made by the British Telecom during October 2005 earthquake for restoration of telecom services by rendering help to SCO for telecom services besides providing satellite PCOs services.

While briefing about the credentials of British Telecom (BT), Paul Falkner, Director General BT Global Services said that BT is a London based telecom service provider company doing business in retail and wholesale local, national and international telecommunications products and services.

He said that BT is highly encouraged by Pakistan 's structural reforms and investment friendly policies and are planning to invest more in Pakistan. He said memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between BT and Saigol (Pvt) Ltd marks a new era in networked IT services, telecommunication services and higher-value broadband/internet product and services and it will benefit the people of Pakistan.

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People forget when Musharraf came, the economy was our biggest concern.

the NYSE fluctuates when the aermican president is selected, so its not suprise this happens in pakistan too. good news i hope pakistan becomes a middle income economy in the near future.