KARACHI: The Karachi Stock Exchange's (KSE) benchmark 100-share index fell in dull trade to end at a more than 2-month low as investors were cautions ahead of the appointment of a new finance minister and on concern about a tax on share purchases, dealers said.
Stocks fell 126.95 points, or 1.33 percent, to end at 9,419.43 points on turnover of only 91.5 million shares.
The index ended at 9,386.92 points on Dec. 31.
The rupee firmed on Wednesday after falling to an all-time closing low the previous day amid a lack of import payments and dealers said some exporters had also been selling dollars in the market.
The rupee ended at 85.03/06 to the dollar compared with Tuesday's close of 85.09/11.
"There was selling of dollars by exporters which helped strengthen the rupee," said a bank dealer.
The rupee hit an all-time low of 85.15 last month.
Dealers said the rupee may firm if there was more selling by exporters and if external flows started to come in but the medium-term outlook remained weak.
The rupee has lost 1 percent against the dollar this year after losing 6.17 percent last year and a 22.12 percent slide in 2008.
In the money market, short-term money rates fell to between 11.60 percent and 11.70 percent compared with Tuesday's close of between 12.00 percent and 12.15 percent but dealers said they expected rates to rise because of tight liquidity.
There were no scheduled inflows or outflows on Wednesday.
The next outflow is scheduled for March 6, of 96.36 billion rupees ($1.13 billion), and the next inflow is scheduled for March 25, of 65 billion rupees ($764 million).
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