Pakistani stocks end lower; rupee flat

KARACHI, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Pakistani stocks ended lower on Wednesday as investors sold shares of blue-chip companies such as Pakistan Telecommunication Co. Ltd., but buying in oil shares limited losses, dealers said.

The Karachi Stock Exchange's .KSE benchmark 100-share index ended 0.65 percent, or 60.22 points, lower at 9,144.76 on turnover of 143.4 million shares.

"There was selling pressure in some of the heavy-weights as they have been performing well in recent sessions," said Sajid Bhanji, a dealer at brokers' Arif Habib Ltd.

PTCL (PTCA.KA: Quote, Profile, Research) fell 2.24 percent to 17.91 rupees, while National Bank of Pakistan (NBPK.KA: Quote, Profile, Research) ended 4.93 percent lower at 73.05 rupees.

However, dealers said losses were limited because of interest in the energy sector. Oil and Gas Development Co. Ltd. (OGDC.KA: Quote, Profile, Research), the heaviest weight company on the KSE-index, gained 1.78 percent to 107.97 rupees.

Dealers said the market was likely to perform well in the short-term on hopes of a rate cut in the key policy rate when the monetary policy for December and January is announced on Nov. 24.

The KSE-100 index has gained 58.95 percent this year after losing 57.9 percent last year.

In the currency market, the rupee ended almost flat at 83.42/51 to the dollar compared with Tuesday's close of 83.40/50.

The rupee has been supported by remittances from Pakistanis working overseas but dealers expect importers will weaken the currency.

According to the latest official data, remittances from Pakistanis working overseas rose 32 percent to $3.1 billion in the first four months of the 2009/10 (July-June) fiscal year.

The rupee has weakened 5.2 percent this year after losing 22.12 percent last year. (Reporting by Sahar Ahmed; Editing by Robert Birsel) (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here)