The volume of Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) has increased by 30 to 40 times on account of Unified Trading System (UTS) between ISE and Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE), starting from 30th of last month.
"We also expect at least 15 to 20 percent increase in the volume of LSE after the launch of the UTS," Adeel Zafar, a member director of the LSE, said here on Sunday.
The proposal of UTS was under consideration since long time and the high-ups of both the exchanges had been working on it constantly, he said. Before start of the UTS, because of non-availability of liquidity, investors of Islamabad had to mostly depend on LSE and Karachi Stock Exchange, but now UTS has provided them access to the LSE, he added.
According to him, Karachi had also been invited to join this system but its people declined the offer. The rules and regulations of this system have been formulated after approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), he pointed out.
"At the time of commencement of the UTS, we thought the system would gradually improve and progress, but during the first week of its launch we got such a huge success which we had not expected," he said.
He said that the ISE share transaction volume has surged 30 to 40 times due to UTS, which is a good omen for the capital market of the country. On 30th April, the ISE shares turnover amounted to 2.7 millions, on 2nd May 3.9 millions, 3rd May 3.4 millions and on 4th May it was marked at 4.7 millions, he said. This unified system will also benefit the LSE and will have a positive impact on LSE futures'' counter. "At present, trading at Lahore futures counter is negligible, but now we foresee a remarkable improvement in it, which has been a longstanding desire of the investors of Lahore," Adeel Zafar said.