Pakistan stocks end at record high

KARACHI: Pakistan stocks ended at a record high on Monday after the central bank left interest rates unchanged last week, dealers said.

The benchmark 100-share index on the Pakistan Stock Exchange closed up 0.75 percent at 39,800.64. It hit an all-time high of 39,917.13 during the session.

The State Bank of Pakistan in its monetary policy announcement on Saturday kept its discount rate unchanged at 5.75 percent.

"Unchanged interest rates in monetary policy announcement led to investor interest in banks, creating a positive sentiment in the first session of the week," said Hammad Aman, manager equity sales at Topline Securities Pvt Ltd.

United Bank Ltd gained 0.60 percent, MCB Bank Ltd was up 1.58 percent, Bank Alfalah Ltd rose 4.18 percent and National Bank of Pakistan gained 4.99 percent.

The rupee ended at 104.81/104.85 against the dollar, unchanged from Friday´s close.

Overnight rates in the money market fell to 5.40 percent from Friday´s close of 6.30 percent.