Pakistan shares, rupee open firm as election results eyed

KARACHI: Shares in Pakistan rose to their highest in more than three weeks in early trade on Thursday, while the Pakistani rupee traded firmer at the open as the nation awaits general election results.

With cricket hero-turned-politician Imran Khan leading in a partial count, the benchmark index was up 1.6 percent at 42,023.57 by 0542 GMT, giving up some of its gains shortly after the opening, when it was up as much as 1.9 percent.

In spot trade, the currency was 0.1 percent stronger against the U.S. dollar.

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary Babar Yaqoob told reporters he could not set an exact deadline for release of the complete results, but it would be as soon as possible.