June 1, 2002	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 19,1423

KARACHI, May 31: Stocks on Friday ended on a lower note after an early rally, initiated by reports of US defence secretary’s visit on a peace mission, faltered half way under the weight of weekend selling.

Larger decline was, however, resisted thanks to the presence of selective support at the lower levels as was reflected by mostly fractional either-way price changes even on the blue chip counters.

The KSE 100-share index suffered a fresh modest fall of 6.27 points at 1,663.35 as compared to 1,669.62 a day earlier, reflecting the weakness of some leading base shares barring Hub-Power, which ended unchanged.

Unlike the previous session, opening was a bit promising as a section of investors covered positions at the lower levels aided by reports of visit of the US defence secretary on a peace mission.

“The US secretary may not win the elusive goal of peace between the two neighbours as the demands are too tough to be met by Pakistan, but it will certainly give a temporary breather to both to have some rethinking on the issue,” one analyst said.

In the developing situation when the fear of war is a dominant factor investors mostly play safe. The important thing is that institutions though are not sellers at the moment in a bid to forestall further liquidation from the weakholders, they are not aggressive buyers either.

“The renewed demand of the US and Russian presidents from Pakistan to stop cross-border infiltrations has added new dimension to the already complex situation,” one broker claims. “It is a veiled threat of an imminent Indian attack.”

This perception shared by most leading stock analysts could well mean more lean days for the market in the coming weeks as scare of an imminent Indian attack could trigger fresh sellstops rather than buystops.

Lever Brothers, Central Insurance, Clariant Pakistan, Dawood Cotton and BSJS Balanced Fund were leading among the gainers, rising by Rs.1.50 to 14 followed by Zahidjee Textiles, Modaraba al-Tijarh, Kohat Cement, and some others, which rose by one rupee to Rs.1.30.

Losers were led by Wyeth Pakistan, Glaxo-Wellcome Pakistan, PSO, IGI Insurance and Aventis Pharma, falling by one rupee to Rs.6.

Trading volume fell to 91m shares from the previous 114m shares as losers maintained a fair lead over the gainers at 149 to 82, with 48 shares holding on to the last levels.

Hub-Power topped the list of most actives, unchanged at Rs.22.80 on 37m shares followed by PTCL, lower 10 paisa at Rs.15.45 on 20m shares, PSO, off Rs.1.90 at Rs.128.85 on 8m shares, MCB, lower 50 paisa at Rs.24.40 on 4m shares and Sui Northern Gas, up 10 paisa at Rs.13.20 also on 4m shares.

Other actives were led by KESC, up 20 paisa on reports that the army will aid the new management for one year after its sell-off to any prospective bidder on 4m shares, FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, steady 10 paisa on 3m shares, Engro Chemical, off 55 paisa on 2m shares, ICI Pakistan, easy five paisa also on 2m shares and Pak PTA, firm by five paisa on 1.450m shares.

FUTURE CONTRACTS: Bulk of the speculative selling was again confined to both the settlements of the PSO. While the maturing May settlement eased by Rs.2.39 at Rs.128.80, the June contract fell by Rs.2.54 also at the same rate on 1.457m shares. Others leading shares were traded fractionally on either-side.

Among the most actives, Hub-Power was leading, fractionally lower by one paisa at Rs.22.81 on 6.553m shares for May but up by 11 paisa for the ruling June contract at Rs.23.11 on 8.725m shares.

PTCL followed it, off 20 paisa at Rs.15.40 on 4.663m shares for May and easy five paisa for June contract at Rs.15.70 on 4.795m shares. Turnover in other forward shares was below a million shares.

DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Shares of eight companies came in for alternate bouts of buying and selling under the lead of Ravi Rayon, unchanged at Rs.5 on 37,200 shares followed by Mehran Jute, easy five paisa at Rs.0.85 on 11,000 shares and Suzuki Motorcyles, unchanged at Rs.4.85 on 6,500 shares.

BOARD MEETINGS: Apollo Textiles, June 4, Abbott Lab June 7.

DIVIDEND: Security Leasing Corporation, right shares at the rate of 50 per cent.