Pakistan stocks up on state-owned institutions' buying

Pakistan stocks up on state-owned institutions' buying Karachi  - Pakistan stocks roared upwards Monday by 2.7 per cent despite political upheaval as local institutions continued heavy buying to prop up depressed prices, traders said.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 262 points to close at 10,171 after trading below 10,000 for most of the last week.

The bulk of the institutional support came from state-owned entities such as National Investment Trust, the Investment Corporation of Pakistan and State Life Insurance in an effort to boost the market and to prevent the impression that impeachment efforts against embattled President Pervez Musharraf are counterproductive for the economy.

Musharraf traditionally enjoys the support of Pakistan's business community for his investment-friendly policies during the nine-year era.

The country's National Assembly, or lower house of the parliament, was set to initiate the impeachment proceedings as it opened in the late afternoon.

Growing political uncertainty and external tensions have caused an erosion of around 35 per cent of Pakistani stocks since January. (dpa)

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